A Different Engraving
by wavesketcher
Summary: Set immediately after Season 4 finale, dealing with the aftermath of Emma's mutation into Dark Swan from Regina's POV. Regina cannot comprehend Emma's sacrifice; yet finds it even more unsettling as she begins to see similarities between the new Dark One and the embodiment of everything she wishes to disown, Rumplestiltskin. Perhaps an exploration of the past (literally) is needed?
1. Chapter 1

**This really is quite daunting, putting my writing out here! I am 16 years old and am still a student, so please be aware that my grammar may not be perfect. Please do review this if you take the time to read… it will definitely encourage me to continue. For now, enjoy this chapter introducing Dark Emma and Regina's initial reaction to the sacrifice.**

Chapter One

 _Regina sees the shadow of a hunched figure nestled in between two adjacent trees. Her heart aches for the shrunken form that emanates dark magic with every rise and fall of its breath._

The darkness had usurped Emma's fragile body as quickly as it had left Regina's own. _You have worked too hard to have your happiness taken away._ Regina could hear nothing else but her heartbeat and Emma's words as she stood, stranded, against the evil that devoured Henry's birth mother. Yet, Emma was so much more that… Emma was light magic. Emma was hope. Emma was the saviour. And stopped being _Henry's birth mother_ the second she saw beneath Regina's evil facade. It whilst these thoughts were attacking her brain that Emma herself was slowly dissolving in to a black cloak, biting at the streaks of blonde and the red eyes that above anything else, appeared terrified. Within one sharp intake of breath Emma was gone, leaving only the clattering sound of the dagger falling to the floor in her wake. Regina fell. The ground was the only stability against her crumbling shell; even that seemed fragile as her feet gripped against the stone. _You have worked too hard to have your happiness taken away._ She had become aware of a fractured gasping sound, only to realise that it was own. Robin placed his hand on the curve of her back as she rocked, seeing nothing but the darkness and the pain and her past and the future and _emmaemmaemma._ A low wail punctured her thoughts. A sound so drenched in suffering it was barely human. Yet, Regina knew all too well it was. It was a sound she had heard escape the mouths of her victims… a sound she had made herself many years ago in a stable.

The screams kept jumping from Snow's mouth like insects feasting on her pain: a pain that wouldn't numb, even with her husband's warm grasp on her shoulders. Regina began to feel her own hurt subside in to anger. Anger at herself. .. and Emma for being foolish enough to trade her happiness for an evil queen's. Regina jerked upwards, startling Robin as she stalked away.

"Regina? Regina!" Robin pawed at her arm, attempting to shake away her ingrained emotion. She pivoted angrily and tried to love his worried face, yet her heart was devoid of emotion- only the aching reminder of Emma seeped through the cloud. She lifted a hand to caress his rough chin, "I'm sorry, Robin. Just go and find-"

"-Henry and Roland. Yes, I know."

Regina tried to give a watery smile at her soul mate, as he again proved his title. She dropped her hand and continued towards the shop, her feet carrying every emotion in her body.

"Rumple? Rumple! RUMPLESTILTSKIN!" Regina tried to hold her voice together, yet it broke on the last "Rumplestiltskin", a hoarse shriek that masked the sob that choked at her vocals. A pretty brunette came out with eyes like wide orbs in fear as she stared at Regina in disbelief. "Belle! Belle, where is Rumple?" Regina barked at the young woman, starling her even further.

"He's resting. Er Regina, why do you require him so urgently?" Belle wavered as Regina began to march towards the back of the shop. Her hand pushed open the light curtain and there, on a bed, was the infamous Dark One, asleep.

"Where is she?" Regina snapped at the previous wizard, looking helpless amongst the blankets and silvery hair that framed his sharp features, "Where is Emma?"

Rumple's eyes opened reluctantly, sighing at the sight of his former student who was leaning close to his face, her own eyes glistening with rage and… fear. A small smile taunted his face, "And why do you suppose I know where she is, dearie?"

Regina narrowed her deep brown eyes, "You're not the Dark One anymore Rumple. You're powerless. You're an…" she looked him up and down with an equally mocking smile, "old man." She watched as Rumple's face clouded. He cleared his throat and sat up slowly, careful to not to worsen his headache.

"Get. Out. Regina," he hissed, "Unless you have the dagger, you are of no use to me."

The dagger. Where was it? It had fallen to the ground after Emma had – had disappeared. A quiet cough caused both the old man and former queen to turn and stare at Belle. In her hand was a sharp, jagged object. A dagger. The dagger.

"Regina,' Belle whispered softly, "It has… it has Emma's name on it".

The ground beneath Regina subsided once again, her fall only cushioned by Belle's hands as she held the once evil queen. Rumple's face had also turned a sickly white under the realisation that his power was now harnessed by another.

"I found it just outside the shop entrance," Belle continued tentatively, "it was like it had wanted me to pick it up." She handed the object to Regina with a sad smile, "I'm so sorry."

The weapon felt alien in her hand and she wanted nothing more than to hurl it at the wall. Or better that, at Rumple. Emma's name was engraved in the same fine lettering that Rumplestiltskin's had been in; the 'Swan' reflected the dull lights of the shop and casted an ominous shadow against her shaking hand. Very carefully, limb by limb, she untangled herself from the ground and began to walk out of the door, masking her fear with the familiar composure of a broken queen – the same composure she had often been forced to adopt back in the Enchanted Forest. Her jacket seemed to tighten and all she ached for was fresh air and the knowledge of Emma's safety. Yet, as she stepped in to the cool night, she felt a soft touch against her arm.

"If I were Emma, I would have gone in to the woods," Belle breathed, careful not to alert her husband (Regina would never understand the attraction to that man), before quickly allowing the building to envelop her silently.

And now, here she is in the woods, unsure of how to approach the fragility that Emma dissipates. Fragility and power: a lethal combination as Regina knows too well. She steps a little closer, wincing at the crunch she causes underneath her boot. Emma's head whips round and Regina has to swallow the gasp she almost lets escape at Emma's appearance. Her eyes, once an enchanting green, are now raw and angry as if the darkness has scratched away any light.

"Regina?" Emma says carefully in to the heavy air, "Regina? I'm pretty sure only _you_ would be brave enough to come searching for me." Her voice still _sounds_ like Emma… She still _looks_ (aside from her eyes) like Emma.

"Hi," Regina begins awkwardly as she steps in to the clearing and Emma's hardening gaze. "Listen, Emma, you cannot hide forever. Not whilst people need you. People like Henry and your parents and… and me."

Emma lets out a low, chilling laugh that tickles the hairs on Regina's neck. " _You_ need me? Even with your perfect soulmate?" Emma asks, adopting an austere tone that unnerves Regina completely. She elongates the word soulmate, mocking each syllable with a piercing tongue.

"Storybrooke needs its saviour," Regina says simply, although still trembling, and ignores Emma's cold remark. She gracefully slides over and sits down next the shivering form, hoping that her warmth will be enough for the both of them. The dagger still remains in her jacket pocket, teasing her as she places a hand over Emma's icy fingers.

Emma's eyes mist over, yet she still snaps back a response despite the tears now tumbling down her cheeks, "The saviour has saved enough of Storybrooke. It needs to grow up."

Regina can't help but relax at Emma's familiar dry humour, "Fancy that - the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming refusing to selflessly save the poor, innocent citizens of Storybrooke."

"Ha! Says the Evil Queen that cast this stupid curse," Emma retorts retracting her hand as if it were resting on fire, "It wasn't that great a curse anyway, sending people to a land without magic. But I guess you were only obeying orders from your _teacher_."

Emma is grinning wickedly at Regina' stiffened stance. No. No, no, no, no. She isn't. She won't be. She can't. Yet looking at Emma now, who is sitting with her hands crossed and wearing a smile that reads nothing but danger, Regina cannot see anything but her former teacher. Anything but Rumplestiltskin.

And it is the vision of Emma mutating in to the manipulative embodiment of evil, who once corrupted Regina's young mind, which scares her the most.


	2. Chapter 2

**Just a few quick notes to eradicate any confusion for this chapter: I have decided to discard Hook from this fic. I don't think his character will work with my ideas for this story and his relationship with Emma just adds unwanted implications (sorry to any Hook/Captain Swan fans). Each chapter will have an extract from the past entwined in to the main arc somehow. I will write larger fragments of the past in italics, isolating them from the rest of the story. The idea is to provide a backstory to Regina's relationship with Rumple, thus helping you understand her reproach (and fear of Emma turning in to him). Please continue to review – constructive criticism would be much appreciated. Thank you to those of you have reviewed so far, it makes me smile.**

 **Sorry if this chapter feels a little tedious, but I feel like Emma's tendencies as the new Dark One needs to be addressed before I proceed with the actual storyline. Happy reading and prepare for some excitement very soon!**

Chapter Two

" _Choose one."_

 _Regina narrowed her eyes at her reptilian-like teacher who gleamed at her from behind glassy orbs. She surveyed the small cluster of people before her, just visible beyond the tree trunk she and Rumple were resting against. There were a range of ages and genders, all laughing and smiling at one another's remarks. She couldn't just_ _ **choose**_ _._

" _Don't keep me waiting, dearie," Rumple trilled, rolling his eyes in exasperation, "Go on, Regina. Choose. One."_

" _But who? How do I know?" she hissed back at him, although her voice was laced with something other than irritation. Perhaps despair?_

" _Well… that one," he said, waggling a long silvery nail at a pretty fair-headed woman, "is expecting a baby and is married to… him"._

 _Regina clenched her fists, angered by Rumple's indulgence in his power of foresight; however, she refused to kill an innocent unborn. She strode out from behind the shrubbery in all her evil queen glory, provoking quick yelps as mothers grabbed their children in fear. Regina allowed the power to paste a smile over her lips. Quickly, with admirable grace, she plunged her hand in to the torso of the nearest man and retracted his heart with ease. She glanced at Rumple, whose face was twisted in sadistic pleasure at his student, and crushed the beating organ._

 _Yet as Regina turned and stalked away she couldn't help but feel as though it were not just the embers of a stranger's life on the floor, but her own._

…

Regina doesn't notice the tears that now leak out of her deep brown eyes, but Emma does. Her hand reaches up to effortlessly flick away the salty fluid that carries every pain Regina has ever felt. Emma's eyes are so kind and so loving that in this moment, Regina forgets the sacrifice. Forgets Rumplestiltskin and how similar they had seemed just a second before.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry," Emma whispers, shaking her head in disbelief at her horrid comment. Regina says nothing, just allows the soft hands to smooth away the scars of her past… at least, for now, in this moment. They sit in stillness for several minutes, only silent tears reminding them of their failures.

"Why did you do it, Emma?" she says suddenly, angrily, and pulls back from the other woman's touch.

"Do what? Save you?" Emma laughs the last part softly, turning away in to the darkened night as if it held the answers.

"You didn't know me back then, Emma. You didn't know… who I was… what I did. Innocent. So many were completely innocent and I…" Regina chokes, swallows, and then continues in a tone quivering with emotion, "killed them. I took their hearts and crushed it in front of their loved ones. I allowed myself to be vulnerable; vulnerable to people like my mother and Rumple who feasted upon my fragility and did not stop until they had made a…. a MONSTER. I don't deserve happiness. How can I? I am evil," and she whispers the last line in defeat.

She starts shaking then, frantically heaving her shoulders up and down as they bear the weight of the world. Maybe they do? Everything, EVERYTHING, began with Regina. And she hates herself for it.

"You're right, you don't deserve happiness. No one does. Not really. You've earned this chance, Regina. I have watched you grow and grow and now, now you are as good a person as, heck, freaking Snow White!' Emma says firmly, grabbing Regina's hands again in an attempt to calm her down, "Think of Henry. Think of _our_ son."

Regina relaxes a little at the sound of his name and forces a fragile smile at Emma, "You're right. Henry." She expects Emma to nod at her in agreement, yet the other woman's eyes darken once again.

"Regina… where is the dagger?" Emma says slowly, each word dripping with a threat that Regina believes she is yet to find out.

"I don't know," Regina whispers, careful to mask her emotion with a cold glare.

"DON'T LIE TO ME! SHOW ME THE DAGGER!" Emma's shout shatters the night as fractured hope falls to the ground beside Regina, who is shaking at Emma's outburst. Gingerly, Regina retracts the dagger from the safety of her coat. It is out of her hand and in Emma's grasp with a quick flick of the Dark On- no _Emma's_ wrist. Regina bites her lip so hard the sensation of blood swirls around her mouth. Emma's expression is undistinguishable as she stares at the cursed object and this unnerves the brunette to the point of fear.

"So it's official. I belong to the dagger now."

"Yes. No. Well technically, yes. But we can find a way Emma. We always do," Regina cringes at her words, aware of how alike she sounds to her former nemesis, Snow White. Emma notices it too because she makes fleeting eye contact with Regina, bemused.

"You have to give this to Henry," Emma's words dart in to the air like a burst of emotion and Regina nearly stumbles backwards under the sheer weight of them.

"What?"

"Henry. You're right, we have to protect Henry and," Emma swallows and continues in an authoritative tone, "he has to be the one to control me. He has to be."

"You will NOT burden our son with that responsibility," Regina's words smash in to the night just as Emma's had, the inner queen emerging at the protection of her beloved son. She winces in preparation for Emma's inevitable retort.

Nothing.

"Emma, let's go home."

Emma's nod is so small that one could write it off as a twitch, but Regina notices it almost immediately and takes her bony hand. Together they walk out of the woods; Emma concealing the dagger in her jacket, Regina concealing her broken past in her powerful strides. Their hands are a tangle of bones, neither able to formulate an emotion.

Regina pushes open the heavy door to the block of flats where Emma's family live.

"You coming?" she asks Emma, adopting her comfortable 'Mayor Mills' tone once again. She shakes her head at Emma's lingering posture, "Emma. Your family needs you. You need your family! They will understand and are good people … better than my sister at least."

The words tumble out of Regina's mouth before she can harness them. Oh no. Emma's face contorts in to mask of anger (no, fury) at the mention of Regina's sister.

"Stop. EMMA!" Regina shouts at the figure, striding towards the hospital where she will unleash her wrath on Zelena. Regina rolls her eyes at Emma's usual stubbornness before thrusting a hand in to the air, halting Emma under the influx of magic. Emma's laugh is like a heavy blanket over the town, smothering the life.

"Do you _really_ think you can stop me with magic, _dearie_?" Emma spits harshly, visibly denting Regina's posture with her last word. Stop it. Emma stop it. Regina stays silent. She stays silent even as Emma jumps out of the magical substance that holds her there. Emma's laugh is louder now as she snarls in Regina's face, "I taught you everything you know, _remember_? No one, NO ONE, is more powerful than me."

Regina remembers. She remembers it so vividly that it haunts her every time she closes her eyes and wills herself to be happy. For the third time in this dreadful night, she is aware of the crumbling ground beneath her feet. And it is only when Snow White sprints out of the door that she gains the strength to remain upright.

"Emma!" Snow is enveloping her daughter in her arms, a mass of blonde waves and a tight embrace. Much to Regina's surprise, Emma hugs her mother back with the same ferocity.

"Emma?"

Of course - Prince Charming with the newest addition to the family nestled in the crook of his arm! Regina sighs as he also touches Emma's cheek and wipes away her tears. Stupid, perfect family; however, she can't help but register the darkness that again poisons Emma's eyes, her humanity, as baby Neil is thrust in to the blonde's arms.

"I think this is too much of a reunion for me to stomach," Regina says quickly, shooting a glare at the Charming's confused face. She snatches the baby out of Emma's hands, which are darkening with every second the innocent is in her grasp, and slides him back to Snow. "Come now Charming's," Regina sighs in her usual exasperation, "Let's move this upstairs."

She feels a small touch on her fingertips that sends an interesting warmth through her hand. Emma is smiling at her, eyes full of regret and Regina suddenly understands. Emma cannot control her fluctuating emotions. The Dark One is eating away every part of Emma Swan, only the loving reminder of her family can revive her from the spells of evil she feels succumbed to. Looking at Emma's frightened gaze, Regina makes a silent promise that she will do _whatever_ she can stop the darkness eradicating Emma Swan… because Regina cannot envisage a life without her.

…

The Charming's loft is buzzing with chatter and exclamatory cries at Emma's return. Regina feels relieved when her eyes rest on the familiar figure of her soulmate, making his way towards her fragile body. He engulfs her in a warm hug that smells like nature and freedom, and Regina hugs him back tightly. Emma's hand is still tenaciously entwined with hers, and Regina has no intention of letting go just yet. If Robin notices, he doesn't say anything just whispers in Regina's ear, "Is Emma okay? Are you okay?"

Regina draws back and nods curtly although her eyes speak differently, and she knows that Robin can see beneath her outer shell.

"Mom!"

Both women turn to stare at their beloved son, bounding down the stairs before wrapping his arms around both their necks. When Emma releases her hold of Regina's hand to hug her son properly, Regina is suddenly aware of the cool breeze that dances around the loft. Henry pulls back to narrow his eyes at his birth mother, "Erm mom?" he questions before Regina whisks him away from Emma's ever tightening grasp. Only once both mother and child stand in the opposite side of the room does Regina speak, clutching her son's hands.

"Henry," she begins slowly, lowering her voice to a deep hum underneath the layers of chatter, "Emma is… Emma has… Emma is the new Dark One." She cannot lie to her son, not after everything he has endured as a result of magic, and this is no exception. Regina watches her son's pupils dilate at the news and wills him to say something, anything.

"That is… that's great!"

The brunette cannot stop her mouth from hanging open at Henry's reaction, "What! Why is it great?" she splutters, utterly flabbergasted.

"Becauuusseeeee," Henry drools, as if his mother is an idiot, "it means that the Dark One can no longer hurt anyone. Mom won't use her power for bad so… no more darkness," he says simply.

Regina's heart swells at his innocence. Henry never failed to see the goodness in every situation, believing in everything… and everyone. She wishes she could tell him that he is right and that Emma won't hurt anyone. But she can't. She cannot lie to her son.

Henry runs back over to his blonde parent and demands Emma to show him her newly enhanced magical abilities. Regina watches as Emma puts on a brave smile and nods silently. Henry practically jumps with excitement as Emma transforms the ceiling in to a glittering night sky, allowing Henry to literally touch the stars. Everyone else in the room is gazing up in awe also, spell bounded by this magical display. Regina feels the jealousy twist around her throat. No one has ever been in awe of her powers. She gets a sudden urge to blast Emma's perfect sky, which hangs over her perfect family, with a jet of green from her fingertips. It is only when she notices Snow's pale face that she stops summoning her own magic. An expression of pure worry has marred her princess-like features, fearing the power of her daughter's abilities. Emma is no longer the saviour any more, but a harbourer of dark magic. The darkest of them all. And Regina knows better than anyone that all magic comes at a price and Emma will have to pay it.


	3. Chapter 3

**The storyline is finally beginning to be revealed. I have an exciting adventure in store for our characters; hopefully it will be enjoyable to read. My favourite parts of writing this fanfiction are the flashbacks to Regina and Rumple's former relationship in the Enchanted Forest. For me, Rumple is the main instigator for all of the evil that the show conveys. He is the one that corrupted Regina and I find it so fascinating to explore this.**

 ***I am going away to a summer camp very soon so, if my updates are sparse, please don't worry – I will not abandon the story, I'm having too much fun!***

Chapter Three

"I just have one question. Why am I not grotesquely ugly?"

Emma's voice fills the room, awakening Regina from slumber. She opens one eye to reveal a bedraggled Miss Swan, perching on her window sill. The moonlight catches on blonde strands of hair blowing in the nightly breeze, and Regina takes a moment to drink her night time visitor in before, "What the hell are you doing in my room!?"

"Asking you a question, why I am not grotesquely ugly?"

"Emma, I'm serious!"

"And I'm serious too, Regina. Deadly serious."

Regina sighs in acquiescence, "You could never look ugly, Emma." The words drip off her tongue before she can trap them, and she quickly masks her admittance with, "Why on earth would your appearance be _grotesque_ anyway?"

"Rumple wasn't exactly a looker," Emma laughs out the window to conceal her own blossoming blush, and Regina can't help but chuckle in return, despite the uncomfortable knot that eats her emotions at the mention of her former teacher's name.

"No, I suppose he wasn't."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For holding my hand earlier. You didn't have to do that- it helped me. Calmed me down, I guess," Emma's words dig in to Regina's heart as she frantically tries to eschew the sensation that follows. The blonde is still absorbing the night sky: fragmented emotions pieced together in this moment only by the solidarity of the stars. She sighs and asks the brunette the same question that has brought her to this large window…

"Why do I look just the same?"

"Why don't you just ask Rumplestiltskin yourself?" Regina retorts, suddenly irritated as her words scratch at the other woman.

"Okay," Emma says slowly, "I will." Her eyes grasp at Regina's own and, with their gaze still locked, Emma's constructs a black mist to engulf her body.

Regina doesn't realise that she has been holding her breath until she releases it at Emma's departure. She stares blankly in to the void where Emma's silhouette had been. What just happened?

And then she understood.

Using magic to dress herself, Regina hastily prepares for the walk to the shop. His shop. She doesn't dare teleport herself to the entrance, knowing that Rumple will sense the sudden influx of purple smoke quickly, if not immediately, and react. She pushes open her bedroom door and practically hovers over each stair, her heart contracting and relaxing rapidly and –

"Where are you going?"

The timid voice halts Regina's flight momentarily, turning to acknowledge the four year old clutching a large toy giraffe. His face is twisted in confusion, a lip trembling as his little brain struggles to comprehend why anyone would be leaving the house at this hour.

"Roland," Regina says softly, crouching to the small child's level and stroking his hair tenderly, "I have to go and help someone. You'll be okay. Why don't you go and find daddy?"

"He wants you, Regina. I tried to calm him but he wanted you."

Robin's interjection startles the brunette as she extends her legs to face her soul mate (she hears Emma's mocking tone whenever she thinks of the word). Robin looks just as confused as Roland, except for his lip that is set in a cold line. Regina squirms under his watchful glance, aware of both time and the man's tangible frustration.

"Roland, go back to bed and I'll be there soon," Robin says slowly, giving his son a gentle pat in the direction of the spare room, leaving the two adults alone in their secrets and denials. "Regina, this is too dangerous," Robin hushes, shaking his head in exasperation, "I know you won't listen to me but you must."

"Emma needs me," Regina says simply, a statement that is natural on the brunette's lips yet alien as it darts in the air. She bites her tongue at Robin's expression, which clearly needs more persuading. "Rumple will corrupt her, Robin! She is too vulnerable in her power and he knows that. He uses that to his advantage. He takes vulnerability and pokes at it until mutates in to evil- an evil in which he is the puppeteer and I'm the puppet." Her breaths have become ragged as tears coarse down her face.

"You said, 'I'm the puppet'," Robin says carefully, touching a tender hand to his loved one's face.

"What?"

"You said, 'I'm the puppet'. Rumple, he corrupted _you_ didn't he? _He_ instigated the evil that you succumbed to."

Regina pulls away, swallowing her tears with the knowledge that she must keep her stability to save Emma, "Now do you see? I have to, HAVE to, save her."

…

 _Regina lay in bed with only peaceful rhythmic breathing to steady her emotions. King Leopold had summoned the brunette to his room an hour ago. And she had not gone. There had been several knocks at her door over the period since her beckoning; one was even accompanied by the whisper of a little girl calling for her step mother. Regina's body was contorted in rage and frustration, yet most of all despair. Today was the Daniel's birthday and she was not, repeat not, going to spend it in the bed of a man she loathes. Her eyes closed as pent up frustration at her imprisonment grew until purple sparks darted from her fingertips. Magic was still a new encounter for the young queen, and under the reptilian eye of the Dark One she was attempting to control it._

" _The king is most upset, dearie!"_

 _Regina shook fiercely at Rumpelstiltskin's sudden exclamation. She pulled the linen sheet tighter around herself, willing him to leave._

" _What are_ you _doing in my bed chambers?" Regina cried, refusing to make eye contact with the shimmering imp._

" _Expecting the King?" Rumple grinned wickedly, "Or perhaps not? Judging by your current state, it seems that you and his majesty do not share the same agenda."_

" _Leave me alone, Rumple. My next lesson isn't for another two moons."_

" _Ah yes! But this isn't a lesson, Regina. Think of it more like a helping hand… a deal, if you like," the man's eyes were practically sparkling with excitement._

 _The brunette became instantly intrigued by this proposition. The Dark One's deals were infamous and Regina felt strangely honoured that Rumple would request_ her _. She sat up and stared quizzically at the scaly creature as he danced around her large chamber._

" _Fine. What is it you seek?" she snapped at him, irritated at his tangible enjoyment._

" _Oh nothing much, dearie. Nothing that you would miss," Rumple trilled, his hands clasped tightly in anticipation for his next words, "I want you to kill the King!"_

 _The imp's laughter unnerved Regina, although she felt oddly comfortable with the idea of killing Leopold. She had considered murder before. There had been many times where she had envisaged Snow's death, but acting upon her visions… well, it was a different matter entirely. The murder of the king would be treason, Regina knew that much, and would certainly result in her death._

" _You would be free, Regina. Free to roam around the castle. Free to mourn your poor twoo love," Rumple whimpered the last line, mockingly._

" _Free to rule," Regina breathed, as a burst of energy coursed through her veins at his words._

" _And in return I will help you exact vengeance on the princess, the beloved Snow White."_

 _Upon hearing this last statement from the wizard, Regina nodded frantically. "Yes. Yes, I will. I will kill the King and be free of this imprisonment!"_

 _Rumple giggled, "So eager, my young queen! Alas, you must wait. In several years from now, a foreigner will enter this kingdom and seek your love. You will use this genie to silence Leopold and then, and only then, will the beginnings of your evil reign and the princess' death commence!"_

 _Regina shook her head in disbelief at her teacher's power of foresight; however, she became instantly frozen at the word 'evil'._

" _Evil? I'm not evil! My mother was evil, not I!" the queen raged, shocked at Rumple's insinuation._

" _No Regina, you're not evil. But that is only because of one simple fact: evil is not born, dearie, it is made."_

…

The murmured voices become clearer as Regina creeps in to the crack between the door and the dresser. Pressing her knees against the floor, she can just see the silhouette of her target: Emma. The brunette leans a little further forward to hear the hushed conversation that drifts around the space between her and the blonde.

"Emma, there is something you need to know. Something that is rather pivotal to your transformation," Mr Gold's voice pricks at Regina's ears as she holds her breath.

"Okay, then spill. I need to know Gold… especially if it endangers the people I love," Emma croaks, and Regina can tell from her wavering tone that she is scared; scared of Rumple's reply.

"Back in the enchanted forest," the former wizard begins, disturbing the eerie silence, "I was the Dark One for quite some time before we were first cursed. The longest Dark One ever to have lived, in fact. My reign was indestructible, tethered to no one but the dagger and myself. My name, engraved on the weapon, was so deep that a part of my very being was entrapped within it. Usually the power is simply transferred to another, and the Dark One is carried to its next victim. You, however, did not directly take the power. The darkness was stripped away from me and my name was erased from the dagger, yet not all of it mutated in to the substance that is transferred to the next Dark One- the darkness the dagger held was still there, the darkness which first turned me in to the Rumplestiltskin that was so feared. When you saved Regina, you became the new Dark One; however, my power was not transferred to you but instead absorbed by you."

"I don't understand… I…"

"Emma, you are going to transform in to the Dark One I once was. The evil version of Rumplestiltskin will take over your soul, and any ghost of your former self will be completely eradicated."

Regina doesn't see anything after these words- just darkness. But she hears voices: Rumpelstiltskin's mocking tone, his cackle, his promises, his deals, his 'dearie', his whispers and then, louder, his parting words he had said to the young queen before the deal regarding Snow's death, "Evil is not born, dearie, it is made."


	4. Chapter 4

**Ah this is so exciting! The past week I had been struggling with a captivating plot that linked the past and present together with the Enchanted Forest AND that managed to tackle Emma's transformation. Let's just say I had an epiphany and am now itching to get writing the next chapter. Chapter Four is the last part of the story before the adventure begins – I hope you are intrigued as to what happens next.**

Chapter Four

Both women sit on the cold floor, staring expectantly up at Rumplestiltskin. After Regina's panic attack Emma had discovered the brunette as a crumpled heap, and had carefully nursed her to a sitting position. Her arm still hangs lazily over Regina's shoulder.

"What we have here is a very interesting case of magic," Mr Gold begins, shifting his weight on to his walking stick. "The magic of Entwined Souls is not often seen in such an unlikely context. Usually this form of sorcery is not associated with… well evil, I suppose… and when tinted with darkness it manifests in to something much more threatening."

Regina feels Emma tense at Rumple's last line, and she herself sinks lower in to the blonde's hold over her shoulders. The air around the women is thick with tension and fear, neither knowing what to say.

"I suggest we begin our search for a solution," Rumple juts in to the cloud that envelops the defeated tangle of limbs on his shop floor, "Regina, shall we?"

Hearing her former teacher's request, the brunette carefully unhooks her body from Emma's embrace and pulls herself up. Only when the old man is in her eye line does she shake her head, "No. I have learned from my mistakes, Rumple. And trusting you would just be a repeat of unwanted history."

Regina's purple mist begins to engulf the two women, snaking around their bodies. Rumple's face is hard through the thickening smoke, "Believe me, dearie, I don't want another Rumplestiltskin either." And with those final words, the magic dissipates revealing the empty echo of Regina's vault.

"Okay, so we've been magically transported to your vault. Without, may I add, my consent," Emma sighs dramatically, pushing herself up from the ground. Regina ignores her and begins to pull out books from the shelf, scattering dust. Entwined Souls. What does it even derive from?

Emma sighs again and stalks over to the brunette who is leafing through the pages of what looks like an oversized dictionary.

"That will take too long, Regina. Look," Emma clicks her fingers and within seconds a thick piece of parchment paper materialises in the blonde's palm. "Entwined Souls. A magic that has taken the hearts of many destined to be with one another, united in love blah blah blah. This is all just gushy waffle about true love!"

Regina nods her head curtly, irritated by Emma's apparent amusement towards the dire situation. "This is serious Emma. You cannot just blah blah blah your way through life when something bores you! Here, give it to me."

Surprisingly, Emma obeys the former Queen and presses the page in to the other woman's hand. It crumples under her touch and Regina closes her eyes to steady her thinking. Entwined Souls. Entwined Souls. Entwined Souls. A small gasp escapes Emma's mouth as she watches the paper mutate in to a dark brown, charred under the brunette's fiery hold. An entirely different text eradicates the previous swirly print, this one harsh and scratchy against the burnt scrap.

"To break the bonds between those under the influx of Entwined Souls, one half must silence the other's life at a pivotal turning point in his history. Only when both are united and have adopted the same state must the murder take place. Then the victim's body must return back to his original time period to realign the past and present," Regina reads, her breath hitching at the term murder. The two women stay very still, absorbing the words and trying to comprehend the reality it carries.

"So I have to kill Rumplestiltskin?" Emma questions after a long while of silence.

"No, Emma. Changing the past will generate drastic consequences. Rumplestiltskin must kill _you_. You must go back to the enchanted forest, where you must become fully entwined with Rumple's soul, and allow him to end your life," Regina deadpans and her heart plummets further in despair with every word, stabbing at her emotions.

Emma breaths in.

And out.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes, Regina. Okay. Okay I will do it. What choice do I have otherwise?"

Emma's emerald eyes are hollow at her words, reality compressing all hope in to nothingness. Regina turns to face the other woman and clutches her hands in an attempt to steady Emma. And herself. The look they share is so full of knowing that Regina feels the urge to envelop Henry's mother in a shattering embrace. But she doesn't.

"So we go together. I'm not allowing you to go by yourself. Look what happened last time you went to the past, Miss Swan! Excuse the pun, but we are not having a repeat of history!"

A small smile teeters at the corners of Emma's mouth and she nods quickly. Regina runs a hand through her thick hair and smiles back: a smile so small that one could easily mask it as a twitch, but Regina knew that for Emma it was enough.

…

 _The Queen was dressed in black: a bodice encrusted with jewels that hugged her torso and thick hair constructed in to a regal up do. Mourning clothed the kingdom, yet not her. Regina was the happiest she had been in awfully long time. To her left, just visible through her window, was the royal casket shrouded in flowers of every colour. She herself had placed a bouquet of the richest red roses, red like the blood the bled from her late husband's viper bite. Red like the blood that now poured through his daughter's snowy white skin, threatening to burst in despair. And Regina revelled in it._

" _Rumplestiltskin," she called in to the air, her tone laced with authority._

" _My, my, dearie, don't we look positively regal in black!" Rumplestiltskin trilled, clapping his hands together excitedly._

" _It is done, Rumple. The king is dead, as you wished. Now you must return your half of the deal," Regina smiled wickedly._

" _Ah yes. The death of an innocent."_

 _The Queen shook her head violently, "She is NOT innocent!"_

" _No? Oh forgive me, my Queen," the dark one teased back, his eyes wide in mocking._

" _Rumplestiltskin," Regina growled, her superiority thinning with every giggle escaping the shimmering imp's mouth._

" _Quite right, Regina! We must exact vengeance at once. I have arranged someone rather special for this ugly deed."_

 _The brunette raised a sculpted eye brow at her teacher, "Oh really? Who, pray tell, has the honour?"_

" _A huntsman, my Queen. And believe me… he will not fail."_

…

"What exactly are we looking for?" Emma questions Regina, her blonde hair falling over the page portraying her parent's wedding. The former queen had crept in to her son's bedroom to retrieve his beloved book that documented their lives, and both women were now in Regina's sitting room attempting to find the _pivotal turning point in history._

"Something that links you and Rumplestiltskin together," Regina murmurs, scouring each page in intricate detail.

"What about here?" Emma points to a large picture of the evil queen and Rumplestiltskin, both visibly livid with one another. Regina squirms under Emma's gaze, ashamed of her former self.

"No. We need something softer, less dangerous perhaps. Like… like here," the brunette flips the pages backwards until she reaches a very familiar portrait of herself. Leopold sits beside her and beside him is a small princess smiling broadly up at her stepmother. "It was on this evening that Rumple made his first deal with me – a deal which changed everything. In a perverted way, this deal also saved your mother's life and therefore saved you. Rumplestiltskin promised to kill your mother if I killed the king. Little did I know that it was in his master plan to preserve Snow's life, to provide the fire I needed to become evil and to enact the curse. "

"Sounds perfect," Emma breathes, her eyes hard and determined.

Regina nods, "Zelena's time portal is still unstable. It will require all the magic we have, combined, but it should reopen."

"Well then, Regina, what are we waiting for? We have a dark wizard to find."

Yet there is nothing heroic in Emma's voice. Only defeat and fear. And these are emotions Regina is all too familiar with.


	5. Chapter 5

**After reading so many fantastic fic's whilst I have been away, I am now eager to increase the excitement levels in this chapter. I really** _ **really**_ **don't want you to guys to be bored! Also, please do take the time to review if you read this fic. Sometimes I feel a little unmotivated, as if no one actually cares that much about what Regina and Emma are up to. Anyhow, let us commence with this chapter as our leading ladies immerse themselves in the dangerous realm of the Enchanted Forest. Ahh enjoy this longer chapter that** _ **I**_ **thoroughly enjoyed writing- I think it is my favourite so far.**

Chapter 5

"Let me come with you!" Henry had pleaded, grabbing both his mother's by their hands. Regina had been adamant, causing Henry to then move on to his blonde (more easily persuaded) mother. The brunette had just parted with Robin, a tense goodbye that was merely a veneer protecting both of their conflicting emotions. Her soulmate had surprisingly understood. He couldn't keep Regina from saving Emma. Heck, Regina couldn't keep _herself_ from saving Emma!

"Sorry, kid. The Enchanted Forest is a pretty messed up place…" Emma sighed, stroking a stray hair from Henry's forehead.

"I can handle it!" had been her stubborn son's reply in defiance.

"No, Henry. You are not going and that is final." Regina knew she had won by Henry's deflated expression.

In acquiescence he said, "Fine. Just be careful, okay?"

Regina leant in to kiss her child's head and, absentmindedly, Emma had followed with the same gentle touch. Their little boy.

And yet now, Regina is regretting leaving her son as purple mist erupts from her fingertips. Henry is strong enough to hold both of his fragile mothers, his hope enveloping their pessimism and uniting them in some sort of twisted family. A family which Regina had never experienced before… a family she has always wanted.

"HOW MUCH LONGER!?" Emma screams from across the portal, her own black vapour colliding with Regina's in some fantastical display of magic. Of power.

"THINK, EMMA!" Regina yells in response. She allows the portrait of her perverse former family, draped in regal finery, to usurp all her feeling. Somehow, the figure of an all too familiar man teeters at the corners of her vision. Rumplestiltskin.

"I would think twice before doing this, Regina. The past can be quite haunting to those with a troubled one."

Regina can practically feel the old man's words scratch at her arm. She opens her mouth in response, "I do-"

The bridge both women have built shatters, as the portal begins to absorb the life around it. Emma allows the magic to twist around her ankle, swallowing her whole in one silent movement. Regina turns back to face Rumplestiltskin before being absorbed herself. His face is hard behind the golden fireworks that threaten to change the past. The future.

…

The walls of the castle are cold. Regina instantly begins to feel claustrophobic, her hands pressing against the prison's hard shell as she attempts to push them out. She can't breathe. She's falling. Slipping. And now the ground is crushing her also, everything strangling her from all sides. She can't breathe. She can't breathe. She can't breathe.

"Hey, Regina? It's okay."

She can breathe.

Emma's words begin to ebb away the fear that ensnares the brunette's mind. Much to Regina's surprise, she finds herself craving more. As if the blonde can lure her back to reality. This thought is quickly eschewed.

They are both crouching in a small corridor that runs underneath Leopold's, no _her_ , castle. Her literal prison for so long before it became a prison of something different entirely. Her anger. Her revenge. Regina pulls herself up, smoothing down her blazer and turns to face Emma's startled expression.

"You had a panic attack," Emma says dumbly, trying to find answers in Regina's eyes.

"Yes."

Emma appears to understand (or at least has the courtesy to not question it further) and nods carefully. "So what's the plan?"

Regina scans the corridor and sighs, "We have to wait until you _transform_ before you can be… killed. I suppose we must blend in or-"

There are sudden footsteps descending down the stairs and Regina and Emma both share an alarmed conversation with their eyes. _What do we do?_ _Use magic! No you have the mark of the Dark One. What? You use it then!_

"Oh my!"

Regina swivels and is met face on with a teenage girl. Her hair cascades down her left shoulder in a lose braid, a floaty gown adorns her slim figure and slightly red eyes, as if one has been crying, gaze back at Regina in utter terror. The girl opens her mouth as if to call out for help and then closes it. She has no one to call for. She is alone and Regina aches to rescue her.

"Regina!" Emma exclaims from behind the brunette.

"Yes," both the older woman and the younger, chorus.

The young queen closes her eyes for a second and clears her throat, "I assume you are my future self. Has Rumplestiltskin sent you?"

"Something like that," Regina murmurs, eyes on the hard stone floor. Her younger self sags suddenly, the walls as her only stability.

"Tell me. Do I ever escape?"

Her words are so small that Regina barely registers their meaning until she sees the dark eye bags and the shrunken cheek bones. Underneath this poor girl's beauty is the face of a prisoner. Regina reaches out to take her younger self's hand, "Yes. You do escape. And…" she glances at Emma who is watching them both with something Regina refuses to label as love, "you find a family."

The young queen lets out a sob in relief then clasps a hand to her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh goodness, I'm sorry. I must stay strong. I am learning magic as you… as you know already. It gives me power and maybe, just maybe, it will grant me my freedom?"

Regina stares at her own naivety in disbelief. "I need you to come with me. I need to keep you safe tonight as something very important will happen, "she says, almost robotically.

Young Regina's eyes widen, "But I am due to dine with Leopold tonight!"

"Well aren't you lucky Regina here barely ages!" Emma smirks, placing her arm atop of the reigning queen's and leaning in to her slightly. Regina watches on with confusion. Is Emma _flirting_ with her younger self?

"So you will take my place?" The teenager's eyes glitter with excitement and for a moment Regina wants nothing more than to rid the girl of this prison. To rid _herself_ of this prison.

"Indeed," is all Regina says in response as she begins to march up the stairs, Emma and the queen in tow.

"So why were you in the corridor anyway?" Emma asks softly and Regina turns before realising that she is not the subject of Emma's question.

"I suppose I don't need to hide anything from my future self," young Regina begins, "I was going there to cry. It is the only place I can get away from… from _everything_. Leopold never sends his guards to look for me down there. It is safe. I write on the walls words like hope and-"she breaks off in to a heavy sob and Regina clenches her fists. Weak. Nobody had ever cared enough to ask how she was before. Before Emma, that is.

"Why would Leopold's guards look for you?" Emma continues to prod, clearly desperate to discover more of Regina's past and take advantage of her younger self's fragile walls.

"Because I would run from his chambers," Regina snaps.

Both Emma and the young queen stop to look up at her. Regina rolls her eyes and advances further through the maze of tunnels until she stops outside the door to her former chamber. Her younger self pushes it open, leaving a crack just big enough for the other women to squeeze through.

The chamber's interior is exactly how Regina remembers: large bed in the centre, a mirror above a large table strewn with jewels, double doors that lead to a protruding balcony surveying the kingdom, and her wardrobe abundant with royal finery. Emma practically _jumps_ on the bed with excitement, and Regina cannot help but laugh at her infantile nature, reminding her that Emma really still is _Emma_ under the mask of the Dark One. Although not for long.

Regina walks over to the large wardrobe and begins to rifle through the array of dresses, "Which one were you going to wear tonight?"

The young queen gingerly touches a sky blue gown encrusted in diamonds. "Ah yes," Regina muses, remembering how trapped she had felt, the dress tightening around her. But she is tougher now, and it brings her a small amount of happiness to know that this innocent girl will not have to endure this coming night.

….

There are several knocks on her door before a guard enters the queen's chambers. "My Queen, Snow White is ready for you to accompany her down to the dining room."

Regina inhales and exhales, gathering her nerve before she leaves the safety of her bed chambers. The dress is tighter than it was a decade or two ago, she can already feel her breath thinning at its constriction and the knowledge of what is to come. Emma and her younger self have hurried away. Regina has no doubt that Emma is learning many new and tender secrets about the brunette's life.

Outside the door, Snow White is dressed in a pale pink gown. Her hair is piled atop of her small head in ringlets and she wears a smile so wide that Regina finds herself smiling back.

"You look beautiful," the young princess breathes, offering her hand to Regina. It is soft, innocent, and the brunette suddenly feels very uncomfortable with the pain she has caused this poor girl. Never, though, would she ever regret it. Her vengeance helped Snow find her Charming and gave Regina a kind of love she had once vowed never to experience. Henry.

"As do you, "Regina whispers, squeezing the little girl's hand. She can practically feel the happiness emanating off the child with that touch of affection. Clearly, Regina had been quite hostile in the past months towards the King's daughter.

Snow babbles on and on about this party and that party and on and on about her daddy and her step mummy and the family she has always wanted. They reach the dining room and Regina is ushered in to a seat at the head of the table, next to the grand throne of her husband. She shivers in disgust as she slides in to the chair. Many other guests are already seated yet fall silent at the arrival of the queen. She hates this. She hates all of this. The facade she wears when she greets suitors and smiles at the king and Snow…. it is exactly that, a façade, a veneer of deception that masks the ugly truth. She is a prisoner.

"All rise for His Majesty, King Leopold."

The entire body of nobles stand in respect as _he_ walks in. Regina closes her eyes as her breath hitches. Her heart pounds and it is all she can do to stop throwing up all over the fine china. She had said goodbye to her vile memories of him many years ago, and yet now here is in the _flesh_. She can't breathe. She can't breathe. She can't breathe.

And then she sees Emma. At the far end of the hall, hidden behind the curtain, is a tangle of blonde and warm emerald eyes. Regina's breath begins to steady again. _Thank you Emma,_ she whispers inside her head.

 _He_ slumps down in to the chair beside her all too soon, touching her hand and squeezing it too tightly to be affectionate. She is his possession and he is reminding every other admirer in the room of this fact. Regina shivers, still refusing to look in to his eyes.

"I see you wore the dress I picked out for you?" he whispers, and she can feel his hungry gaze wander over her appreciatively. She wants to slap him.

"Yes."

"You will come to my chambers tonight, yes? I have so missed your… company these last few nights."

Regina sees Emma again and allows her presence to dilute her anger. "Perhaps," the brunette says simply, although she can feel her former husband tense. Regina bites her lip. Stupid. Her past self would never have spoken like that. Only the Evil Queen and the mayor would dare tamper with royalty.

"You seem different," Leopold muses, stretching back on his chair and surveying the room with interest.

Regina says nothing, just focuses her gaze on the roast swan in the centre of the table and finds herself chuckling, inwardly, at the irony.

…

They have a painter come and sketch their portrait after the meal has ended. Regina doesn't smile or lean in to the hold she has on her husband's arm. He is a ghost. He is dead, she keeps reminding herself. Snow becomes very quiet, as if aware of the tension, and Regina surprises herself by reaching over and squeezing her shoulder. Snow relaxes immediately and asks her father if Regina can accompany her back to her chambers. They walk together in companionable silence before Snow stands on her tiptoes to kiss Regina's cheek.

"I know that what you have with father is not true love," she says wisely, furrowing her brow. "Not like what you had with Daniel. I just want you to be happy, Regina. Perhaps if I was to be your daughter, you would be happy?" Then her tiny hands fly to her mouth and she is shaking her head, "Oh no. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be so… of course I can't be your daughter! I'm sorry." And with that she flies in to her chambers and Regina is left contemplating would could have been.

She walks back in to her own chamber, thoroughly confused. Maybe the prison would have seemed less threatening if she had accepted Snow, despite all that she had done to ruin Regina's young life? Kicking off her shoes, she slides on to the large bed- only to find Emma and the young queen already there.

"Emma!"

Young Regina is dressed in a tight t-shirt and jeans, hair loose around her shoulders, boots and a red leather jacket. Emma is in a ball gown.

"What?" Emma is grinning at Regina, "We just wanted to play dress up." There is a wicked gleam in her eye that Regina cannot help but smirk at.

The newly clothed teenager is giggling as she wiggles her legs in the air, and Regina is utterly appalled (and somewhat amused). "Look! I'm modernised," she states proudly.

Emma turns and places her hands on her hips, "Bow down to me, peasants."

The young queen is in stitches at this and Regina is laughing too. They all sink in to the large bed together, finding everything far too funny. And Regina suddenly feels so happy.

Then there is a knock and Leopold himself is calling through the door, demanding his prisoner.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back! I have been away for a couple of weeks but I am now ready to fully immerse myself in this story. There should only be a short wait for the chapter that follows this one- I am writing as much as I can today! Thank you for the continued support.**

Chapter 6

 _Then there is a knock and Leopold himself is calling through the door, demanding his prisoner._

There is a splinter of silence before Emma's eyes flash threatening purple: a sudden injection of venom that craves pain. She stalks towards the door and, with the young queen watching in flabbergasted amazement, Regina extends her fingertips and momentarily stupefies Emma in to a standstill. All the happiness that has settled atop the trio beforehand has evaporated; eradicated by anger, fear and regret (the latter being Regina's).

"Emma." She says it carefully enough as not to shatter the fragile shell of the Dark One, yet stern enough to penetrate through it and find… "Emma." Responding to her name the second time, the blonde pivots to face Regina. Tiny dark sparks dart tangibly around her arms, fusing together in a majestic display of power. And fear. Even now, with a heart marred by darkness, Emma is radiant. A supernova: a collision of everything dangerous and beautiful. Unstoppable. Regina's eyes have a tenacious grip on the bright fireworks that are Emma's own. She cannot stop her. You cannot stop the formation of galaxy. And Emma is just that- threatening to collapse in on herself over and over until she drains out. Emma Swan can never drain out. She can never lose her spark.

"Do you really think I can let this… this animal use you over and over again?" she snarls back.

" _Used_ ," Regina whispers. "Not anymore."

"No!" snaps Emma, gesturing wildly towards Regina's frightened younger self. "What about her? What about _you_ , Regina? Do you really think you deserve any of this? I'll kill him. You cannot stop me! _No one_ can stop me." She growls her last line, eyes a haze of fierce protection. Regina is momentarily taken aback. Emma is so _angry_ , shaking whilst magic courses through the veins of her humanity. Emma is so angry because… because… she refuses to succumb to the thought. Her focus needs to be here.

"Emma if you change history, _this_ history, you won't ever have been born. Henry won't ever have been born." Regina is pleading here: pleading with the power of the darkest sorceress, attempting to uncover the beauty that is shielded by the darkest of fates.

Emma raises her arms and Regina winces. "I'll find you," Emma says coolly before swallowing herself in a tangle of dark lines. Relief floods Regina's senses in an instant. She had found her, Emma, she had found her spark.

"Regina, what on earth is going on in there?" His voice is like a stone, shedding fear over both the remaining women. The brunette straightens and smooths over her dress. It is only as she makes for the door that she remembers the sheltering ghost in the corner.

"Why does Emma have dark magic?" The question is so timid, yet threaded with something that sounds like doubt.

"Regina? I'm coming in!" His voice is louder now, even more threatening as she hears the door creak open. And suddenly he is there. His presence is all consuming, expanding rapidly in the door frame. Her heart begins to proliferate as he stares at her, finding her. She feels naked under his gaze, bruised and scarred from years of pain that have only just started to heal. Something shrinks away from him within her. Something that is now a tangible figure of the past, cowering in to the deepest crevice she can find in the chamber… inside herself.

Regina hears the young queen's sharp intake of breath as Leopold does, his eyes narrowing immediately in suspicion. She shakes her head, "I am feeling unwell. I will come to you later… at dusk."

He's smirking at her, disbelieving. She braces herself for her next words, "I want you to leave. Now."

And he does.

…

"How can you stand up to him like that?" The young queen still remains in her corner. She wears Emma's jacket like a shield. Afraid.

Regina presents her with a sad smile, "You'll soon learn that power is merely a facade, my dear."

"You never did answer my question… about Emma?"

She struggles with her words as they feel alien on her tongue. "Emma has… is… Emma has become the Dark One."

The expression that shrouds the reigning queen's features emulates Regina's own: despair. She is shaking her head, refusing to believe that someone so obviously _good_ now bares the label of the antithesis of this. Regina moves to crouch down to her former self's eye line and clutches both of the young woman's delicate hands.

"Emma is strong. I'm strong. We're strong. Emma became the Dark One to save _me_." Regina has never admitted that statement aloud before. And now it inflates her head with a giddy happiness, elation that Emma, _Emma_ , sacrificed herself. "We are here to save Emma."

"And save me?" the young queen is gazing at her with such naivety that Regina almost lets out a sob.

"No. We can't save you, I'm sorry. You're so important to… to _everything_. It does get better, I promise you," the words come out in a series of robotic pulses, willing her past self to believe it.

And because she is a queen and has had her love ripped from her very grasp, and because she is fuelled with proliferating anger towards a young princess who destroyed her happiness, and because she is a prisoner of her own prison, Regina's former self straightens and says, "Tell me what I have to do."

…

Dusk is settling over the kingdom and Regina is pacing her bed chambers. The young queen is sitting elegantly atop of the balcony rail, careful not to fall, humming to herself as she watches her older model. _Where is Emma? She'll find us when? Stupid, immature Emma! Why can't she just obey instructions!_

"You should not stress so much, Regina," the queen states primly, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Mother would tell you to smooth over the lines immediately or it will-"

"-Marr your beauty. Yes, I am quite aware." She is snapping back, worried for Emma and the enormity of what she has to endure shortly. How she cannot fail.

Regina had explained to the young queen that she must stay out of sight when she demands her to, yet listen in very carefully to the conversation. "It is imperative that you follow the instructions that I am given by Rumplestiltskin. This changes _everything_ and effectively writes your future, my history. I am recreating the scene that you would have been in and I was in. Nothing will be different so your destiny will remain. Do you understand?" Her former self had nodded her clarity.

"I get the impression that this is quite monumental for us both?" young Regina sighs, swinging her legs a little before remembering her position in royalty.

"Well if you call shaping the past and present monumental then yes, I'd say so," she mutters back grimly.

"You are quite fond of Emma, are you not?"

Regina swivels round to face the teenager, eyes narrowing at her accusingly. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You look at her with such happiness when she laughs and such pain when you remember her fate. As does she, with pain like she knows that she will hurt you and hates to think of it." She speaks so wisely, each word tinged with both sadness and hope. "I cannot wait to love her."

Regina opens her mouth then remembers there are no words to say. He eyes flutter shut for a moment as she feels the knowing gaze of the past on her face. Then she climbs in to her bed and awaits the knocks that follow. The little girl calling for her step mother, the guards becoming increasingly agitated and then…

"Today is Daniel's birthday," young Regina whispers from behind the curtain that shields the balcony.

The older brunette nods, then remembers she cannot be seen and says, "Yes. I believe that is why we have ignored the knocks on the door." She hears a sigh in response.

"The king is most upset, dearie!"

Rumplestiltskin's words startle Regina. A tiny tremor begins in her finger tips as she tries to silence the sputtering of magic beneath the bed linen. _Do what you have to do._

"I don't have a lesson today, Rumple. What are you doing here?" Her words are knitted together. _She's doing it wrong. She can't go wrong._

"Paying you a little surprise visit! I have a rather exciting proposition for my young queen," he trills, giggling with the excitement of his knowledge… knowledge that Regina shares also.

"A deal?" she says innocently and regrets the words as Rumple's mouth twists. _Foolish_.

"Something like that, yes," his eyes are glittering wickedly and Regina hates him, _hates_ him.

"What is it you seek?" she snaps at him, irritated at his tangible enjoyment.

"Oh nothing much, dearie. Nothing that you would miss," Rumple squeals, his hands clasped tightly in anticipation for his next words, "I want you to kill the King!"

Regina pretends to evaluate his proposal, urging Rumple to ensue his persuasiveness.

"You would be free, Regina. Free to roam around the castle. Free to mourn your poor twoo love," Rumple whimpers the last line, mockingly.

"Free to rule," breathes a voice laced with excitement… a voice behind the curtain.

If Rumple notices that the words do not come out of the woman's mouth in front of him, he doesn't acknowledge it, much to Regina's relief. "And in return I will help you exact vengeance on the princess, the beloved Snow White."

"Yes! Yes! I will," Regina clothes her tone with false excitement, emulating the desire she once had. The desire that the other figure in the chamber still clings to so vehemently.

Rumple giggles, "So eager, my young queen! Alas, you must wait. In several years from now, a foreigner will enter this kingdom and seek your love. You will use this genie to silence Leopold and then, and only then, will the beginnings of your evil reign and the princess' death commence!"

And suddenly she is a young queen again, poisoned by that one word: "Evil? I'm not evil! My mother was evil, not I!"

"No Regina, you're not evil. But that is only because of one simple fact: evil is not born, dearie, it is made."

And with that she is left with an empty silence- a combined void of the past and the present as the weight of Rumple's words ignite entirely different emotions on both the ghost and the flesh.


	7. Chapter 7

**I had a plot bunny come to me last night. So today I frantically wrote out as much as I could of the story until I got to said 'bunny. I have no idea how it will work out but it's worth a try, right? Let me know what you all think!**

Chapter 7

When Emma Swan had first arrived on Regina's doorstep, it was as if her fabricated world became just that… fabricated. Her presence had shattered the unstable foundations that Regina had built life upon, reminding the mayor that her power was a veneer against destiny. True, she had not known Emma's role as the saviour at first. But her new arrival held a threat. A threat to Henry and _everything_ she believed to be her happiness. There were fights and malicious words thrown at one another as Regina pushed and pushed and pushed. She couldn't understand why anyone would even begin to show her kindness so she attacked until the other woman had no other option but to hate her son's evil mother.

And then Emma saved her life from Whale's vengeance dripping grasp around her neck.

She was a mystery. One that would puzzle Regina daily, as Emma Swan continued to put herself in front of Regina. How could she still love so fiercely even after the life that Regina had circumscribed her to? How could she protect the woman that _hated_ so fiercely? In a perverted way, Emma and Regina understood each other.

Regina had wanted to give something back to the lady that continuously showed her a kindness Regina would never understand. So she absorbed the death curse that enabled Emma and her mother to return back to their family. Most likely she did it for Henry. Maybe she did it for Emma? Maybe she had even done it for Snow (although this thought was quickly eschewed).

Together they were light and dark, always in combat yet never fully hurting. They never wanted to fully hurt each other.

And now Emma needs saving.

…

"I still can't believe I am going to be free!" the young queen exclaims, practically jumping with her new found knowledge.

Regina is still reeling with anger at the shimmering imp. Now here he is, already beginning to twist an innocent queen in to the murderer he desires. And her former self is _excited_?

"Leopold will be gone and then I'll meet Emma and get to wear these strange clothes," Regina's younger version hums, gesticulating wildly.

"And Snow White," Regina interjects dryly.

Her past form smiles wickedly, a glimpse in to her evil reign. "And Snow White," she repeats locking her gaze with Regina's. "Tell me is it a horrible death?" Her voice is smaller now, eyes wide and any trace of evil has evaporated.

Regina doesn't respond just stares out of the large window and tries to forget. It will be a decade or so before the genie will arrive and the vengeance will commence. One would think the hatred would thin but no. Every living moment in Snow's presence only tightened the chains of Regina's prison. Sometimes the loathing would throb so loud that Regina had to dig her nails in to her palms to stop herself using magic on the princess. Rumplestiltskin continued to train her. She became a force to be reckoned with in the magical world, a second skin that was only shed once inside Leopold's castle. She was no longer just unhappy; now she was livid. Snow began to lose grip on her dream of being Regina's child. In fact she began to avoid Regina, weary of the wrath that threatened to unleash.

 _Regina was certain that the princess had known of her magic, only fuelling the child's fear of her step mother. Rumplestiltskin had been teaching her how to light her first fireball. It was exhilarating. The power that consumed her when she held that little flame was enough to make her laugh with excitement._

" _That's it, dearie! Keep that concentration," Rumple had hummed appreciatively, dancing around Regina with glee._

 _The fire was captivating and Regina was lost in the flame, willing it to engulf her completely. The_ power _to engulf her completely…. It was the shadow of a child that broke the hypnotic gaze between herself and the heat. Her hand had swung round to illuminate the small shadow, yet all she could see was her own reflection in the mirror. Strange._

She feels someone slide in to the bed next to her. The past and the present aligned in slumber; a young queen seduced by evil, a woman once tainted.

…

She awakes in the night and looks to her left. Her former self is lying on her back, eyes fluttering with every breath, Emma's jacket in her grasp. Regina sighs and lifts herself out of the covers and onto the hard floor. Her own clothes are folded neatly by the dresser where she had left them the evening before. Hastily, Regina peels off her evening gown, visibly sighing in relief as the material is yanked off her body. A moment of freedom. She then pulls on tight black trousers and her leather jacket, instantly at ease with the familiar clothing. She isn't trapped. Not this time.

"Must you go?" a whisper emanates from the mound under the covers. Regina pulls a hand through her hair, the knots from yesterday's elaborate up do loosening, and sighs. The young queen is now sitting up and gazing at her with earnest.

"You can't _keep_ pretending that this isn't your life. I have to find Emma and figure out how the hell we get her out of this mess! The _idiot_ ," the brunette mutters the last line, shaking her head.

Her former self has now adopted a quizzical look. "You talk as though you do not like Emma very much."

Regina snorts. Rolling her eyes she says, "Emma and I have a lot of history, believe me. But… this is something you will discover."

"I suppose you must now perform a spell on me," the young woman sighs, stroking Emma's jacket tenderly.

"And why would I do that?"

"I have to forget everything. I have to forget that I ever met you… and Emma," her younger version says simply.

 _Of course! Stupid._

"I cannot perform such a spell here. Rumplestiltskin might recognise our brand of magic and start asking questions. Or worse," Regina muses. She is beginning to develop a migraine from all of this confusion.

"I am due to ride in Leopold's carriage to the nearest town tomorrow afternoon. Perhaps I could meet you there?"

The brunette nods her head at her younger self, gracing her with a small smile. Her urge to leave the castle is becoming increasingly overwhelming. Out of the balcony window the forest elongates in to the distance, the trees tiny pinpricks on an ever expanding current of freedom. It calls for her, aches for her presence. And Regina suddenly cannot be sequestered inside this prison for a moment longer.

She moves quickly, leaving the queen to slumber, as she pads through the corridors. In her hands she holds her heeled boots, knowing that they will alert the guard's senses almost immediately if she slips her feet in to the warm encasing. She passes Snow's door and bows her head, a silent sorry for what the princess is about to endure. Regina would never regret her actions, though. Never.

"I heard that she told him to get out of her chamber!" an excited gasp leaks from behind a dim lit door to Regina's right. She is almost out of the castle, yet her ears prick at this particular statement and she averts her eye line to the small fissure in the woodwork. A young maid is perched atop of a table, legs swinging mindlessly as the gossip circulates around the other heads gazing up at her. Another (older) woman is rolling her eyes and Regina instantly warms to her.

"Regina's feisty," chuckles what looks like an adolescent boy. "I think her mother is too. Someone told me that her mother is Cora, the heart-stealing witch!"

"Really? Well I saw her with the Dark One!"

This particular statement elicits several amusing jaw drops. "What were they doing?" the young maid is squeaking. Regina can practically hear her tiny brain conducting a million scenarios.

The boy shrugs. "I don't know… although they did look rather intimate," he whispers cheekily, eyes glowing.

Regina has to swallow bile. _Emma Swan would most certainly be in hysterics_. After leaving the immature teenagers to fawn over this _ludicrous_ insinuation, Regina continues to sweep across the corridor until, at last, her feet reach the soft grass.

…

Emma has lost all senses. One moment she thinks she can _see_ black and the next moment she is breathing it in. She is vaguely aware that the darkness is tightening its grip on her soul. Anger balloons inside her chest as she finds her palms in the usurping void of black. Her nails dig in to the skin, already raw from her previous transformation stage, providing her with a sliver of stability as she falls further and further in to the abyss. She has lost all bearings. When she tries to open her eyes, the pain is so severe that they automatically clamp shut again. The anger is proliferating, stimulated by that monster of a man. Leopold. Emma shivers in disgust and pulls her arms tighter around her fragile body. No. She isn't fragile. She's the _dark one_. And yet she pulls her arms tighter.

…

Regina has lost count of her steps. _Since when did the Enchanted Forest have so many darn trees? Oh great, now I sound as ridiculous as Emma. Idiot. It's the Enchanted_ Forest _._ Her rather odd mental chastising is cut short when pools of light begin to filter through the branches. _The nearest town._ Regina swallows and begins to make her way towards the pockets of brightness. Trees begin to diminish, eradicated by crumbling _straw_ cottages. The brunette wrinkles her nose in disgust. _I did you all a favour by cursing your pathetic villages._ Several peasants scurry past her figure and Regina keeps her head down in secrecy. She's still not sure exactly where she will spend the night, as her face is rather recognisable among the kingdom. Perhaps she will conjure up a shelter using magic?

She is just about to pick her place of temporary residence when the sound of hooves coming to a standstill behind her back leaves her rigid.

"Are you lost, my lady?" His tone is sincere enough to relax the brunette by a hair, yet she still doesn't dare turn around.

"No, I am quite alright, thank you."

"Dare I ask why you are out so late?"

Regina sighs. _Maybe he won't recognise me? It_ is _dark._ Running a hand through her hair, she pivots to put a face to the concerned tone.

…

There, on top of a steed, gazing down at Regina with a warm smile is none other than her _soulmate:_ Robin Hood.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry if this chapter is a little bit shorter than usual. The following chapter will be longer with more action, hopefully. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed and followed! It is so encouraging : ) Chapter 8 is an emotional one so enjoy.**

Chapter 8

 _No. No no no no no! This cannot be happening… Robin! Emma?_

Regina's mind is a web of fragmented emotions as the man stuns her features with a curious gaze. Completely unsure of how to react, the brunette steps a little further in to the shadows.

"You need not fear me, my lady. I am simply concerned, that is all."

His voice emulates the tone she hears too often. The Robin she knows just _gives_ and _gives_ and _gives,_ expecting nothing but Regina's acceptance in return. It is a harrowing thought that he, a father tainted by the grief of his past love, feels compelled to prove himself to a woman who deserves nothing short of contempt. Little Roland, who gazes at her with an adoration reserved only for a maternal figure, is oblivious to all the pain Regina had inflicted on his family. And that is just all so _wrong_. She didn't feel this way at first. It was a love that she never thought she could experience; the classic kind, peppering each other with light kisses and brief dalliances that would be thought of throughout the remnants of that day. And she did _love_ Robin. She _does_ love Robin. So why was that never enough?

Why is it when she's with Emma… it just _is_?

"Do you know who I am?" Regina whispers in a voice that barely splinters the silence between them.

"No. I do not believe that you have yet graced me with your name."

"Regina." She surprises herself by stating her true name.

"Regina…" Robin muses, dismounting his horse and bridging the gap between them in one swift motion. "The only Regina I know of in this land is the queen, and I very much doubt that is you. I have only heard of her beauty on my travels."

"Travels...?"

Robin shifts uncomfortably, clearly embarrassed. "Well I say travels… I am an outlaw, you see. I have to keep hidden so I am always on the run." He laughs, shaking his head. "I really should be on my way by now, I always travel at night."

"Well then, don't let me keep you," the brunette says dryly, directing her stare away from Robin.

"No! Believe me; it is quite pleasant to have a conversation. It can get quite lonely always running." He lowers his voice to a whisper, similar to Regina's. "Are you on the run too?"

 _I don't even know anymore._

"I can find you a place to sleep, if you would like. I know a man who owns a _respectable_ inn. He's very trustworthy," Robin fills in for Regina's silence.

His eyes crinkle as he smiles, and she has to turn away from him. Her feelings for Robin are about as ambiguous as Emma's reasoning for the sacrifice.

"Yes. Thank you," she nods, knowing full well that she will flee as soon as the man has left.

…

She stumbles through the town, mindful to keep her head down. It surprises her how alive every house appears to be to the naked eye. Even at this late hour there are candles and shouting and laughing emanating from every door. _The Enchanted Forest's very own New York: the city that never sleeps._ Ironically, she really is on the run now- fleeing the kind man and his loving gaze that she will never deserve. _That she doesn't want._

"Regina!"

A sharp hiss stings the woman's senses and she pivots, a fireball automatically appearing in her left palm.

"Woah! Hey, it's okay. It's me."

"Emma?" The bewildered brunette croaks, crouching down to peer inside the small hovel in the ground. She has to swallow back tears at the sight in front of her: Emma, like a wounded animal, is curled in on herself, blonde hair matted and hands raw from scratching. The creature lifts her head and Regina draws a breath at the other woman's facial features.

"I guess I am grotesquely ugly now, huh."

Eyes that once used to explode with a sparkle, that Regina could only describe as _Emma's_ , are now a hollow black - ringed with red, like a tortured sky. Her skin has been drained of colour, now a deathly white: a translucent sheen over heightened cheek bones. She just looks… empty….

"You've certainly looked better, Miss Swan," Regina attempts at levity and is rewarded with an almost imperceptible smirk. The brunette's hand wavers in front of Emma's skin, and Regina wants nothing more than to inject all the life that is Emma Swan back in to her papery mask.

"Are you still…?"

"Am I still what? Emma?"

Regina shrugs. "Are you?" And she's afraid of the answer.

"Judging by my wit and endearing charm, Your Majesty, I would say so."

The brunette snorts, instantly at ease. _Emma._

"Endearing charm? Oh please. Even your insufferable father has more charm than you!"

"Well that would make sense, he is called _Charming_. Didn't you know that?" Emma challenges, untangling her limbs so that she can face Regina.

Rolling her eyes, the older woman says, "I thought you would have fashioned a castle for yourself by now." She gesticulates around the hole in disgust.

"A castle, really? A yellow Bug perhaps but nah, castles aren't really my style," Emma wrinkles her nose.

"Well that makes sense," Regina says dryly, again, gesturing.

"Sorry, Your Majesty. Were you expecting a palace?" The blonde asks sweetly.

"Your Majesty?"

Both women freeze at the sudden interjection. Regina notices Emma visibly recoil, eyes mutating to an even darker shade of black.

"Robin I-"Regina begins, straightening as if trying to shield Emma from Robin…or perhaps Robin from Emma?

"How do you know my name?" His tone is dripping in accusation.

Regina stiffens. And then she stiffens even more. From behind her, the presence that was previously passive is now growling in distaste.

"Robin," Emma snarls, pushing Regina aside so she can face the mystified man. "Why, what a lovely surprise?"

 _It's not Emma talking. It's Rumplestiltskin. It's not Emma, it's Rumplestiltskin. It's not Emma, it's Rumplestiltskin. It's not-_

"Emma!"

Regina watches in horror as Emma's magical grip tightens around Robin's neck. He is elevated in the air, his breath shuddering under the tenacious hold of the Dark One. The malice in the other woman's face is hinging on sadistic pleasure… much like the Evil Queen in all her glory, and _very_ much like Rumplestiltskin. But Robin _cannot_ die.

Regina throws herself in front of Robin's fragile form, willing Emma to stop with a hardened glare. She has to find _her._ Under all that darkness, Emma is still there. _What happened to endearing charm?_

"Saving your _soulmate_ are we, dearie? Good luck with that!"

The brunette is tossed aside so vehemently that breath escapes her throat. Robin is urging her, in a strangled voice, to run. Regina shakes her head and wills a fireball to her palm.

"Let. Him. Go," she hisses, aiming the ball of fire towards the other woman's twisted smile. Emma laughs and continues to squeeze the life out of Robin. Out of Roland, out of Regina herself, as she squeezes and squeezes.

"Emma. Stop."

And she does. Robin is a crumpled heap on the floor and Regina runs over to his fragile limbs. Summoning all the energy that is within her, the brunette begins to heal the pressure marks where the magical grasp had been. Robin's eyes flicker in and out of consciousness, his breath a fluctuating rhythm of life, death, life, death. She's struggling and he's struggling. Both are slipping: one in to despair, the other in to an eternal slumber.

Then there is another hand. A gnarled one, tainted by darkness and self-loathing, as it skims over the fallen man's body. Regina has never seen the Dark One heal before. It is blindingly beautiful; darkness entwined with the purest of white, dancing together in an enamoured embrace of life. Survival. Wet tears fall on Robin's grazed cheek, and it takes a long moment before Regina realises that they are not her own.

"I just wanted to protect you," Emma whispers, shoulders shaking as silent tears cause her skin to glisten.

Regina reaches out to place a hand on the other woman's wispy fingers. And this time she doesn't retreat. Both stare at the intimacy in confusion.

The Evil Queen and the ghost.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! Just a quick point: for those of you that don't like the Robin arc never fear because it ends in this chapter. I just wanted to give it a try, sorry to any Robin haters! Anyway, we are nearing our epic climax very soon, stay tuned! Another plot bunny came to me the other day (thanks April for inspiring it 3 ) which I am VERY excited about. Thank you to everyone that has kept reading- it is much appreciated. (Sorry the updates are so sparse)**

Chapter 9

"Why were you so angry?"

"…"

"Emma. Why were you so angry at Leopold?"

The fragile man still lies between them, shielded by the night's shadow and two women desperate for… for _something_.

"How long before he wakes up?"

"Emma, answer me. Why were you so angry at Leopold?"

The blonde sighs. "Not angry, Regina. Livid."

"Fine. Why were you _livid_?"

A bitter laugh escapes the woman. "You really have no idea, do you?"

"No. So tell me."

"I… I can't."

And then Emma Swan's walls tower too high for _anyone_ for climb: an exterior of darkness and fear. Regina shakes her head and focuses her gaze on Robin's steady breath. Silence consumes them like a blanket and it is too smothering, too unnatural.

"You know we have to erase her memory right?"

"…"

"Emma. We have to erase her-my-oh you know who I mean!" the brunette exhales, frustrated.

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Emma," Regina sighs, messaging her brows in exasperation. "We have to."

"No you don't. I said no."

"Emma, please. You can't ke- EMMA!?"

Darkness has enveloped the other woman, the only sounds reminding Regina that the blonde is still present are sporadic 'NO's' in between flames of ash. Frightened, she gathers her magic and begins to stream light in to the tumbling mess.

Nothing.

"No. No no no no no no no." Emma is crying now. No, gasping. As if the dark magic is suffocating every trace of humanity within her. Pale hands scratch at her marred face, clawing at the very mask that portrays her newly adopted darkness: an animal that has accepted its fate and has curled up to die.

Regina sinks further in to the ground, afraid to take her eyes off Emma in case it is her frightened gaze providing the blonde's only shard of stability. Tears threaten to graze her cheeks and Regina realises that she has never felt more hopeless in her whole life. Pushing past the dark clouds that blossom in to an angry flower with every rise and fall of Emma's breath, Regina's hand finds the sharp curve of the blonde's spine. _Come on Emma. Come back to me._ She applies a gentle pressure, highlighting her presence in a desperate attempt rescue the strangled form. _Come on Emma. Come back to me._

Time compresses in to an agonising wait for both women: Emma, for the wave to pass, and Regina, to grab hold of the humanity that is dissolving and .go.

And then it stops.

Regina fights back at a sob as Emma lifts her head. Her skin is practically translucent now; only raw eyes imply a 3D form. A thin smile cracks across the blonde's charred lips.

"Sorry you had to see that. They happen quite often… I guess it is like me becoming more and more like Rumplestiltskin," Emma croaks, reaching out to pat Regina's hand. She barely feels it. More silence passes. And then, like before, Regina breaks it.

"Emma. I- why don't you want me to erase _Regina's_ memory?" It is a gamble, Regina knows, but she can't understand it. She just _needs_ to know. Perhaps for reasons she cannot even admit.

Emma closes her eyes and takes a breath. She holds it for what seems like an eternity to Regina, before speaking her next words. "I just don't want her to forget me."

Regina swallows and, capturing Emma's desperate gaze, she speaks with more sincerity then she ever has in her whole existence.

"She doesn't."

…

Emma has three more panic attacks as the night progresses then slowly mutates in to morning. The sun begins to stagger in jagged streaks towards the three figures, emerging from the blackened night. Regina, who has not slept at all, allows the sunlight to usurp her senses. A light snoring sound can be heard from her right. She rolls her eyes inwardly. _Even in this dire situation, she still sleeps like Leroy passed out in a cell._ Still though, it is inexplicably more comforting then the cries of the blonde's previous waves of _transformation_ (as Regina has decided to label them). It calms her somehow, determining the cause and naming it.

"What on earth?"

Regina jumps and swivels her head to face a very bedraggled Robin. His eyes bore in to hers accusingly as he tries to separate fact from fiction, before realising that it was all _fact_. He stares at Emma's sleeping form too and practically recoils in fear.

"What are you doing with her!?" he shrieks, shaking his head frantically.

"Robin," Regina says calmly, "You are healed now. I understand you're confused but I need you to stay still."

"STAY STILL? YOU'RE A WITCH TOO! BOTH OF YOU!"

Regina winces at his frantic yelling. "Please, Robin. I need you to do this."

Stilling only for a moment, the brunette takes the opportunity to hum the words of a forgetting spell.

Robin's eyes shut in response and Regina allows herself to touch his chin in a show of affection. _I'm sorry Robin._

And then, when he opens them, he is gone.

…

Emma finally awakes as daylight fully eradicates the darkness. She looks at Regina from beyond a web of eye lashes matted together by tears. Again, a crack of a smile can be seen on her veiled skin.

"Did Robin go back okay?"

Regina nods. She leaves it at that.

"I think it is best if you remain hidden when we see the queen. I don't know if you're… stable… enough."

Emma stiffens but agrees anyway. "Yeah. You're probably right."

"Aren't I always?" the brunette surprises herself at attempting humour.

"Debatable," Emma quips, smirking at Regina's raised eyebrow.

"Emma you'd be dead at least ten times by now if it weren't for me."

"Funny you should say that, _your majesty_ , for I was just thinking the exact same thing. _You'd_ be dead at least ten times by now if it weren't for _me_."

Regina snorts. "Please."

 _Although…._ It has never truly occurred to the brunette just how pivotal Emma has been in keeping her alive. Keeping _Regina_ alive, preventing the evil queen from usurpation.

"She'll be here soon," Emma says, cracking Regina's thoughts.

She nods. "Yes. I should go… and wait for her."

"Yes. You should."

Regina doesn't move.

"Regina?"

"Emma?"

"I…. er thanks."

"Thank you for what?"

Yet Regina is not met with an answer: instead an empty silence where Emma's presence had been. _Once again the walls are up._ The brunette rises, stretching her legs and wincing at the clicks behind her knees. _Emma Swan you are a nightmare._

She begins to walk through the town. From all directions, grumbling bodies begin to emerge from behind the closed doors. Regina watches in amusement as one man is thrown out on to the paved slabs by an outraged wife. Children's laughter can be heard by a cart of fruit, giggling as they tease the owner in to thinking they are stealing. It is only when the sounds subside that Regina notices the royal carriage grinding to a halt just fifty metres away. Mouths are agape as the King and his prisoner walk hand in hand to the front of the large crowd congregating beneath their feet. Regina shrinks in to the bodies, attempting to become one herself, as the King addresses his subjects. They are smiling at him; nodding, hypnotised by his apparent charm.

Or hers.

The Queen is as equally enchanting draped in regal finery, smiling outwards at the enamoured peasants. But her eyes are dark and searching, ripping apart the crowd. Regina lifts her head ever so slightly to catch the young woman's gaze. Her smile still remains, plastered on her face like an ancient painting, as she connects with Regina.

The crowd begins to dissipate, waved on by the King who is climbing back in to the carriage. Her former self whispers something in his ear before sliding off toward Regina. The King growls at her, angered, yet she doesn't turn round. Regina closes her eyes, willing _him_ not to notice her shadowed form. She blinks tentatively. And again. And again.

But the Queen is gone.

"Looking for someone, dearie?"

"Emma…" she growls, turning to face the blonde.

Yet the figure is not blonde. Or Emma.

She begins to tremor slightly as her eyes attach on to his wicked smirk; the glint of his reptilian eye, betraying every hint of humanity that somehow still caresses his breath.

 _No._

"Oh but _yes_ , dearie. Did you miss me?"


	10. Chapter 10

**SUPER long chapter today guys! I think this will be my penultimate update: ( School is going to get pretty intense in the next few days so I need to wrap this story up, unfortunately. Don't worry though! Exciting things are going to happen in this chapter…. And the next ; )**

Chapter 10

Rumple edges towards Regina in short slithering steps. Giggling erupts from his sadistic grimace at her flinching.

"Don't think I don't know who you are, _Regina._ " He purrs her name, elongating the syllables and rolling the 'R'. Regina takes another step backward.

"You and your Emma have made quite the scene travelling around… using _magic_ ," the imp trills with an elaborate gesture toward the sky.

"How did you know?" Regina finds her voice, praying that the fear remains hidden by her adopted superiority.

Rumple's eyes narrow threateningly. "How did I know? How. Did. I. Know? You think that you can hide from _me:_ the great and infamous Dark One?" He snakes a hand towards Regina's collar and yanks her forward. "You seem to have forgotten everything I have taught you, _dearie_."

"Let go of me," the brunette growls, struggling against the creatures grasp.

Instead he leans in closer. "I know you're from the future. I know you're planning to wipe her memory. What I don't know is _why_ …"

Regina breathes in, recoiling. _This has got to work. He has to believe this._

"Emma… she wants to take your place in this world." She inhales. "To kill you."

Glassy orbs widened to the point of comical. "And how does she think she can do that," the imp spits.

Smiling inwardly at Rumple's gullibility, Regina leans in and whispers in to his right ear, "Because she has the dagger."

The creature darts backwards, as if shot, seething beneath his scaly veneer. "NO SHE DOESN'T. DON'T LIE TO ME REGINA!" His yelling fractures the air around the two sorcerers.

"Not _your_ dagger," the brunette sighs, feigning exasperation. _This has got to work. He has to believe this._ "Her dagger."

Rumple begins to visibly shake, much to Regina's delight. He summons his own jagged weapon in to his left hand and eyes it wearily. "Do you really think you can mess with the timeline Regina? Did you or did you not succeed in casting the curse? Do you not have _happiness_? I will not let you ruin EVERYTHING! You will lose."

"Believe me; I want to… for once. I think we can both agree that the consequences will be disastrous if Emma ends your life. I merely need to wipe the Queen's memory and… somehow get Emma back to our time."

The imp narrows his eyes. "Fine. I know where she and your beloved _Emma_ are hiding. Emma will return back to your land and the queen will stay here with… with me. They will be perfectly safe. Both of them."

Regina knows he's lying. He can't risk anything in the way of his power. And in this circumstance that is _exactly_ what she wants.

…

Emma used to tell herself it was for Henry; protecting Regina…for Henry; showing kindness toward Regina…for Henry. _Everything_ was for Henry when in fact _everything_ was for Regina. This thought had never truly occurred to her until a couple of weeks ago, before their trip back to the Enchanted Forest.

 _Henry sat on the table top swinging his legs as he attacked the digital zombie on his gaming device. Emma was busily making herself a tea; chucking in the tea bag with a frustrated sigh and pouring in the water sloppily._

" _Mo-om stop sighing. It's annoying!"_

 _Emma glanced up at her son whose eyes hadn't left their permanent position on the screen. "I'm not sighing," she said calmly, although Henry could tell otherwise through her gritted teeth. He put down his game and narrowed his eyes at his blonde mother._

 _Emma began to break under the intensity of his stare. "Fine, I just have one question. Do you-er-like Robin?"_

 _The question seemed to relax Henry immediately. "Yeah, course. He's cool."_

 _His answer made her wince. "But is… is Regina… happy?"_

" _Mom? You're being weird."_

" _Right. Yeah. Weird. But erm… is she?"_

" _I don't know to be honest… Robin is always smiling at her in this really annoying 'I love you so much' kinda way. It's gross."_

" _And does she smile back?"_

 _Henry furrowed his brow, thinking. "Yeah, I guess she does."_

 _She continued to ask him questions: "What do you do when you go over there?" "What do Regina and Robin even talk about?" "Do you see them laughing together?"_

 _And Henry continued to answer: "I dunno… watch TV and eat?" "Deep stuff, I guess. They always look in some very confusing conversation." "Erm- not really laughing."_

 _By the end of his mother's interrogation, Henry was smiling knowingly._

" _What!?" Emma snapped, irritated._

" _Nothing," her little boy smirked, jumping off the table and escaping to his room._

Jealousy: an undoubtedly tangible emotion that Emma had so clearly been portraying. She was on edge whenever Robin was in her presence, watching him, studying him… trying to understand _why_. _Why_ did he think he was worthy of her? Why did _she_ think he was worthy of her?

And even _before_ Robin arrived, she cared. Perhaps everyone else could see it too; everyone else but herself… and Regina? It was a harrowing thought to imagine a world without the mother of her child. Of _their_ child. Emma can never supress the smile that paints her features at that realisation. Yet, somehow, she can supress her own feelings. She fears rejection- perhaps more than anything in the world. Her whole _existence_ has been a series of mislead promises, broken hope and _rejection_. And then she rejected her son too: passed him back to the doctor whilst she clung on to the hospital bed like a life-line. It is only now that she realises that Henry was.

Emma allows her soft gaze to rest on the young queen, draped in slumber. She had placed Regina under a spell before she rescued her, fearful of alerting the King. Hair, once fashioned elaborately, now falls delicately over her eye lids in loose tendrils. Emma extends her fingertips to brush lightly against the queen's cheek bones.

"Emma… what… what happened to you?" the brunette stutters, reaching out to connect with Emma's hollow flesh, checking her solidarity.

The blonde presents her with a weak smile.

"What about Regina? Where is she? Why do I still remember?"

"She's not here. I rescued you."

The young woman's eyes widen in understanding. "You... you rescued me."

Emma nods and crouches down beside her, clasping on to a hand too strong for her matted bones.

"Emma, tell me. Tell me _everything;_ your family, your friends, where you come from. I want to know."

There is soft howl that circulates around the cabin that Emma has fabricated. It rattles the windows, trapping the occupants inside. The Dark One closes her eyes and begins to weave the young queen a memory of her first day in Storybrooke, her son, magic, Rumplestiltskin, her parents, Neal… and then she's talking about Regina. She cannot stop. Her face is bright as the words tumble, admiration at her son's other parent: all the times in her life where Regina was .one. The smile magnifies as she illustrates Regina's ultimate sacrifice of allowing Emma and Henry to escape the curse, and loosens as she mentions Robin and their supposed true love. All the while, the young queen is laughing softly. Giddy with a happiness Emma doubts she has ever experienced before.

"Have you told her yet?" Regina whispers.

"Told her what?"

"That you love her. Have you told her?"

"Love? Oh no, it's…. It's not like that."

"Emma. You don't need to pretend!" she is sitting up now, grabbing on to the blonde's hands with ferocity, lit up by the knowledge of hope and… love.

"But Robin," Emma says lamely, pretending to ignore the tears that are trailing across her face.

"Believe me, she feels the same. Why else would she be here?"

Emma doesn't reply. She can feel a darkness bursting through her blood, like venom. Her vision falters and her ears can barely register the frantic screams that elicit from the other woman's mouth. Her tears are red hot and scorch her face as they thunder down her skin, coating her in a raw hatred like no other. She sees Snow and Regina and she has to save only one. She sees Neal and Regina and she has to kill the man with her bear fists. She sees her father and Rumplestiltskin who is laughing wildly as David evaporates. _No._ She then sees Henry, a tiny toddler, crying in the middle of the street as every passer by ignores her _son_. This is then preceded by the usurping anger. She is ripping out heart after heart, cackling as the strangers crumple to the ground. Helpless. Other's hearts are being ripped out too. Her mother's- for ruining Regina's life. Her father's- for sending her through a magical wardrobe _alone_. Neal's – for leaving her in a jail cell. Robin's- for believing he is worthy of Regina. _Regina's_ – for believing that she is worthless to her. She even rips out Henry's, her final heart, before darkness engulfs her senses and she is still.

…

The young queen's features are marred with pain as she watches Emma collapse on the floor. Hours have passed since the blonde started her fiery decent in to madness, and only now has the magic finally subsided revealing a broken shell of a woman. Regina is too afraid to reach out and touch the arched spine of the blonde. As if one fleeting contact will shatter the structure completely and destroy her. She breathes in time with Emma, careful not to trigger another influx of darkness. Minutes tick by and the creature still has not awoken so the young queen clears her throat and summons Emma to back to reality.

"Emma."

"…"

"Emma."

"…"

"Emma. Please."

Two eyes the colour of fire turn and face Regina. A twisted smirk perverts the blonde's face, her skin glistening in the dull light of the cabin. "Hello, dearie."

…

Regina takes Rumple's outstretched arm in reluctance. A wicked grin plasters his tarnished features making the brunette's skin crawl. Once engulfed in his dark cloud, the pair arrives almost instantaneously at the door of a small log cabin surrounded by pine trees. Regina can sense the shift in magic immediately and swallows thickly. _Emma Swan what have you done?_

"Come along then, Regina. Quickety-quick!" Rumple trills knocking on the door in three thumps. He knocks again. And again. "Oh well, can't say I didn't try," he giggles, magicking the wood open instead. He hops inside with a spluttering of glee, before gesturing to Regina.

The room is fairly compact: just a bed, a chair and a wood stove adorn its floor space. And her former self. And Emma. Except this isn't Emma. This creature, this reptilian _imp_ shares no resemblance to Emma Swan. Or does she?

Regina inches closer towards the now fully transformed Dark One. _Entwined souls._

"Regina!" the young queen squeaks, relief at the other presence. Her eyes then widen in shock at the scaly companion standing alongside her older version. "Rumplestiltskin!?"

Rumple smiles and bows dramatically. "Yes, dearie, it is I. I have come to relieve you of this… Emma problem." He points a gnarled hand towards the other creature growling at his existence. "Hello _Emma_ ," he drawls, "how lovely it is to finally meet you!"

"Shut up."

"Oooooo… touchy subject, I see? Now I don't like people that think they can take my power. Did you know that, Miss Swan?"

Regina tugs at Emma's features with her eyes, willing her to notice. To remember _her_.

A sharp laugh erupts from the blonde's mouth. "Of course I knew that, Rumplestiltskin. The question is… did you?" A burst of dark light jolts from the women's palm, exploding in to tiny darts that puncture Rumple's stability (if only for a moment). The young queen screams and curls in to herself, protecting her sanity from the magical war that has only just begun. Regina runs to join her on the bed, gripping on to the slender fingers of her younger form, wishing only to realign the past and the present in a harmonious embrace.

Rumplestiltskin growls in response to his stumble, conjuring up his own blast of magic that punctures Emma's.

"Make it stop, please Regina," the young woman pleads to her older self, tightening the grip on her hand.

 _No. I can't._

Emma retaliates with something stronger. As does Rumplestiltskin. Both wear a mask of sadistic pleasure: a perverted game of cat and mouse, both Dark One's fluctuating between the contrasting roles. A bridge of dark magic begins to collate in between them both, an equal weight of power. Regina waits with baited breath as the scene unfolds. It feels so wrong to be accepting Emma's defeat. _Just end it. Please._

The young queen is sobbing now- ragged breaths that compress in to a low moan devoid of hope. Regina attempts to soothe her as tears begin to leak out of her own eyes. Emma and Rumple have stilled now, their magic rejuvenating.

"Emma… give in," Regina croaks, finally capturing the blonde's attention.

"That's it dearie! Give in," Rumple cackles, preparing for his next blast.

Emma pivots and captures Regina's urgent gaze. A small almost imperceptible nod is all she provides before summoning the dagger to her grasp. The object slices against the papery shield of her skin, drawing blood and eliciting a giggle from Rumplestiltskin. "Oh two can play that game, Emma!" he smirks, his own dagger now in his palm. Regina tries to calm her nerves by staring at the two gleaming objects. _Same dagger just a different engraving._

Both weapons are raised in the air, poised threateningly toward the other. Emma lunges first, pricking Rumple's hand with the jagged tip. He snarls curses at her before swiping against her arm; the blood beginning to explode like a burst dam. Rumple attacks again and again, taking advantage of Emma's blood loss. He's screaming at her and she's screaming back. Their voices united in cacophony. Pools of blood have now collated in rich puddles on the floor… Emma is too fragile, too weak to even stand up so she sinks in to a circle of her own spilt humanity.

Rumple begins to laugh hysterically, his dagger teasing at her heart. "Say goodbye to your beloved Emma, Regina. _Both_ of you…"

"NO!" an inhumane scream erupts from the young queen's mouth as Rumple's dagger sinks in to Emma's heart. The blonde's eyes darken instantly, any stability she once had has shattered as she now lies defeated in a web of her own bloodshed. Regina cannot breathe. She can't breathe.

 _Emma._

A thick darkness begins to swarm like an angered insect out of Emma's empty eye holes; her mouth; her open wounds. It settles above the four figures; an ominous cloud ready to pounce. Regina lurches forward to grab on to Emma's lifeless form.

"Send us back! Rumple! Send us back NOW!" she roars, her hands already dripping with the saviour's blood. With _Emma's_ blood.

Yet Rumple isn't hearing her, despite her fractured screams. Instead he is watching the cloud. Watching as it mutates in to an arrow shaped apparition. Watching as it darts towards the broken queen. Watching as it engulfs her wrecked body, still shaking from the trauma. Emma begins to evaporate from her grasp and, to Regina's horror, she realises that she is evaporating with her. _No. No. No. No. NO!_ Her former self is attacked by the cloud as her body begins to absorb the darkness. Rumple's laughter is fading. The young _queen_ is fading as every fragment of light in her eyes in eradicated by the blackest of black. _Everything_ is fading as the defeated Dark One and her supposed saviour slip away from the reality of the past.

And then the cabin is replaced. Rumplestiltskin is replaced. The young queen, usurped by Emma's assimilated darkness, is replaced. The pools of blood are replaced. Instead, when Regina opens her eyes she is back in the barn; lying on the portal's embers, her hands stained with blood and Emma Swan, dead, in her arms.

 **Wow! I was up so late finishing this. Only one more chapter to go, guys. I really hope this chapter was enjoyable (perhaps enjoyable is the wrong word). Let me know in a review what you thought…**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here it is: the final chapter. Ah!**

Chapter 11

Regina's heart beats in tandem with the metrical humming of the machine. _Beep beep beep beep beep_. She closes her eyes; a lullaby of reassurance as sleep drowns her senses. _Beep beep beep beep beep-_

He eyes rip open and collide with the thin red line. There is neither her heart beat nor the steady hum- just a heavy silence. And then- _beep beep beep beep beep._

The past hours have consisted of Regina drifting to sleep and then awakening to the loud cacophony of nothingness, before drifting back to tranquillity. Never once has her hand loosened its grip on Emma's. She squeezes it in regular pulses, as if the blonde's limp fingers are the bursting red organ that doesn't _burst_ anymore. She looks like a puppet: drips and wires are her security, her prison, and death is the puppeteer. It toys with her, fluctuating in its attacks as Emma remains still. So very still.

It had taken Regina mere seconds to gather her power and magic herself and the lifeless saviour to the hospital. She had screamed for Whale until her voice had shrunk in to a scratchy wheeze.

"Regina. Regina, its okay. I'm here. You need to tell me what happened, okay?" Whale had urged, as his hand became dead weight on Regina's shoulders.

"TO HELL WITH WHAT HAPPENED! JUST SAVE HER!"

She felt so helpless. So afraid. And so _angry_.

Emma was lifted on to a hospital bed, a web of leads injecting life in to her veins. But magic doesn't work like that. Regina found her hand and refused to let go.

"Regina we need to know what happened!" Whale cried, as a swarm of nurses began working on the lifeless body like indoctrinated robots.

"I don—SHE WAS KILLED!" She was shaking with rage, sequestered in the corner of the room like a herded animal.

"KILLED!?" Whale screamed back at her in disbelief.

"By Rumplestiltskin. We travelled back in time to the Enchanted Forest and he stabbed her with his dagger and NONE OF THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! WHY DIDN'T SHE WAKE UP?"

They had done it. They had travelled back at a pivotal moment. Emma had fully transformed. Rumplestiltskin had killed her and they had returned. Emma's darkness had gone. Her old dagger lost. She was meant to be awake. She was meant to be _alive_.

Whale came to stand in front of the quivering brunette. "There is nothing we can do but keep her hooked up and… and wait. She seems to be in an unidentifiable state. Not quite dead but not quite alive. Her heartbeat is weak but it's there. It is impossible to say how long she will be in this state for."

"What will happen when she does come out of it?" Regina whispered, defeated.

"I don't know. I'm sorry. Her preserved state is preventing her mind from formulating a decision. When and if the state breaks she will either awaken or… die."

He left her after that. All the nurses dissipated too, leaving Regina alone with the beating machine that portrayed the beating heart. The papery skin had lost its translucency, instead eradicated by a solid shade of chalk white. Her eyelids were like stone, if they had fluttered, even momentarily, Regina had imagined it. She stroked Emma's thumb and began to whisper:

"Emma Swan, why do you always have to be so dramatic? You can wake up now. You had me fooled, okay. I'll admit that. But it's getting tedious now and Henry will be missing you… Emma if not for me then for Henry? Please. I don't know why you always have to be so reckless? Stealing the Queen! Well, I can't fault your determination but talk about tampering with the past."

 _Oh Emma what have we done._

The Queen… oh no, THE QUEEN! The darkness. It went in to _her_. It left Emma and went in to _herself_. But… she didn't feel any different. Still Regina. Still in Storybrooke. _Oh_.

"Oh Emma you are an idiot," Regina smiled sadly, pressing a soft kiss to Emma's forehead.

"EMMA! EMMA!" Snow screeched, racing towards her lifeless daughter. Regina dodged the petite women as she threw herself on top of the blonde in an agonizing wail. David followed swiftly behind, the baby Neal in his arms. Regina bit her lip as tears leaked from her eyes.

"David… David… what have we done? _I_ should have saved Regina. Not Emma. Anybody but my baby girl," sobbed the figure clutching her daughter's body. Yet she received no pressure in return.

Regina placed a tentative hand on Snow's shoulder. "Emma… she… she _chose_ to save me. I still don't understand why she did it, but she did. And it was the most poignant of sacrifices. She _will_ wake up. I promise you. Emma Swan is **not** dying."

The three adults sat in silence for an hour, afraid that Emma might evaporate if they even so much as blinked. It was only after Neal began crying hysterically that their trance had broken and the Charming's regretfully slipped out.

Then Henry came in.

"Mom?"

Regina tried to suppress her fear. She really did. But upon hearing her son she exploded, a mess of emotions. She felt his arms wrap around her shoulders. She breathed in his smell: lemon scented shampoo (the kind that Henry denies he likes to use), cinnamon and a scent of forest (similar to Roland's). She had missed him so much. She had missed him mostly because she hadn't _had_ him. Or even _known_ of him. Her younger self had been devoid of the happiest aspect of her life: Henry.

"Will Ma ever wake up? I don't want to live without her. Without you and her." Henry had begun to accumulate his own trail of child-sized tears. Except he wasn't her little boy anymore. He was _their_ big, brave boy.

Henry is at the Charming's now, the perfect family nursing their tears and praying for their beloved daughter/mother. Regina somehow manages to find sleep amongst the myriad of thoughts that tighten around her senses before-

"Regina? Wake up, it's me."

Robin's warm eyes are magnified as they near to her face, his lips leaving an indentation on hers. She shivers. He notices.

"Regina, come home. You are making yourself ill. Please." He crouches down beside her, pulling her hands towards his chest, embracing her, loving her. He strokes her cheek and whispers, "I'm so relieved to have you back and safe. Only an hour has passed since you left but it was agony."

She is crying again. He wipes away her tears, as if they're not important, as if they're not about him. He kisses her again tenderly, his face scratching against hers. They don't match. They're a disjointed puzzle forced together by the prison sentence of Soul Mates. And she _wants_ to love him. She does love him. But—

"I'm not in love you," she blurts, shaking with relief at the admittance.

"What?"

"I thought that you were my _only_ happy ending; that I had to be with you to be happy. You're my _Soul Mate._ That seemed more dominating than any other fantasy I had wanted to host. You can't say no to a _Soul Mate_."

Robins face is unreadable so she carries on: "And I think I did love you. I do love you. I will never understand why you love me. But you do, and it hurts too much." Her voice breaks and she inhales rapidly, "I am so sorry, Robin. I can't do this anymore. I think I'm happy but I'm not. Not really. I don't know!"

"I do."

"What?"

"I know why, Regina. You're in love with someone else. I've tried to ignore it too but… Regina, you're in love with Emma."

"Wait, no! You've got completely the wro—"

Robin smiles sadly, "No I haven't. You've loved Emma Swan for far longer than you've ever known me. Think about it Regina. She understands you. You would die for her, in a heartbeat, I know. You're so free when you're around her. You've both denied it for so long that you've forgotten that you deserve true happiness. I'm sorry I haven't been the one to give you that. I really am." He glances down at Emma then back up at the brunette's pained face, "Go get your happiness, Regina. You deserve it. More than _anyone_. Both of you do."

And then he leaves.

Her heart begins to proliferate; her stomach erupts in to an exuberance of fluttering insects; a smile morphs her features because he is right. _Emma Swan, you're an idiot. We both are._

Yet she realises all too soon the sad truth. Yes her happiness is right in front of her, but it is also dying on a hospital bed.

…

Henry calls it Operation Happiness. It is written in his best script on Snow's teaching blackboard with two stick figures scrawled underneath: Emma and a slightly shorter Regina. Upon Robin's departure and experiencing a harrowing moment of pure despondency, Regina had sought hope in the form of the Truest Believer: their son. Henry had hugged his mother with ferocity and said four of the most potent words in Regina's life…

"We will save her."

Regina is sitting amongst the Charming's now, watching in amazement as Henry draws up a large mind map with a million words and phrases projecting off it in all directions.

"There are loads of possibilities to wake her up," he begins, like a teacher addressing his class. "Obviously there's true love's kiss but it wasn't a curse so it's unlikely that will work. There is also a spell which can be cast BUT it could have the opposite effect. Ermmmm… well I suppose we could always take out a heart and split it in two like grandma and grandpa did?"

"That would require someone that could fuel their own life as well as Emma's. Only true love can do that," David says gently.

"I can do it! Emma loves me and _I_ love her so it will work," her little boy yelps, excitedly. Regina can practically see his heart glowing in determination.

"No, Henry. It is too dangerous. Being a child, it would be unlikely you could survive. Emma wouldn't want that," Regina responds firmly, squandering Henry's hope.

The family grow quiet in their ponderings. Regina opens her mouth to speak then clamps it shut again. _No. Who am I to assume that?_

"REGINA!" Snow exclaims, jumping off her seat to grab Regina's hand. " _You_ can do it!"

"Snow? Regina isn't Emma's true love?" David stumbles over his words in disbelief.

"Yes she is! Don't you see it?" She turns towards her former oppressor, "You'll do this won't you? For Emma?"

Regina swallows thickly. And nods.

…

The beeping is diminishing now. Great pauses can be heard in between hums. Her heart beat slows as her face only grows whiter: a harsh correlation. Regina has left the Charming's and her son outside the room. Concentration is required, not Snow's urgent whimpers.

She gazes down at the blonde. "You're going to kill me for this, Emma Swan," Regina chuckles bitterly. She extends her hand towards the woman's chest and plunges in, clasping around the organ. Carefully, she begins to extract her hand, tightening her grip on the beating shell as it emerges from the torso into the open….

An iridescent light erupts from Emma's chest, causing Regina to topple backwards in its velocity. The heart is no longer in her grasp but visibly beating, casting red shadows on the walls from its residence inside the saviour. _The saviour, of course._

Emma's organ is screaming from inside her ribcage; demanding attention and rejoicing in its sudden influx of life. Regina straightens and walks shakily over to the blonde.

"What did you do?" croaks the small voice, cowering behind the blinding light.

Regina chokes and laughs giddily at the other woman. "Nothing!" she softens, "Nothing. I was going to split my heart in two for you…So that we could be enough for the both of us."

"You would really do that for me?" Emma's eyes widen.

"Erm… yes… it was your mother's idea actually. True love and finding each other and-"

"Regina?"

"Yes?"

"Can I be your happy ending?"

And it's so blunt. And so undoubtedly Emma Swan that Regina's eyes blur with tears of the future and family and _everything_ she has _ever_ wanted. Everything her former self has ever wanted.

"You're an idiot," she replies through laughter and tears.

Emma's eyes twinkle. "Probably. But you can have an idiotic happy ending right?"

Regina deflates a little. "What if you're not meant to be my happy ending? Every other _happy ending_ has been wrong…"

"It's simple."

"…"

"It's not the happy ending that changes, Regina. It's the people you find it with. You and I, it's your happy ending: the same happy ending. Just with a different name."

"A different engraving," Regina muses.

Their walls have crumbled, yet they're still standing. Their wounds have ripped open, have bled dry with truths once repressed, yet blood still courses through their veins. Their endings are the same, yet the engraving has changed.

"A different engraving," and Emma traces her name with a finger on Regina's palm.

The saviour smiles at the Evil Queen. Except they're not defined by labels anymore… They're just Emma and Regina. Regina and Emma. Two people imprisoned by their past, emancipated by their future. And it's liberating to finally **choose**.

 **A/N: I really hope I gave you all the ending you wanted. I spent ages agonizing over that last line. I think, for Regina, everyone has always been mapped out for her. She's been the product of Rumplestiltskin and her mother for so many years that she has never truly experienced freedom. Any other choice she has ever made has been denied. Robin wasn't a choice. Robin was predestined, chosen by fairy dust and a lion tattoo. The only person Regina has ever chosen is Emma. And that is why I wanted to end with that line.**

 **I am so proud of this story. It was hard. Sometimes I wanted to give up, other times I just wanted to write and write and write. I am sure this won't be my only fanfiction : ) I would appreciate it IMMENSELY if you could take the time to review. Let me know what you liked, whether you want more, what I could improve on, ANYTHING to encourage me. Thank you to everyone that has followed, favourited and reviewed so far. I hope to keep this story alive through its expanding readership, so if you did enjoy it then please share it on social media etc.**

 **Much love,**

 **wavesketcher**


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